Alex McLeish will tonight pursue the creation of history with vigour. Stephen McManus, the aggressive Celtic centre back, is believed to have retained his place beside David Weir despite the availability of Steven Pressley after serving a one-match suspension.

The new Scotland manager is intent on crafting his own version of a productive format inherited from Walter Smith. The assumption after last night's training session at a sodden San Nicola is that fresh legs will be required on a heavy surface.

McManus has already proved himself capable of competing against the illustrious names of Serie A this season, having helped protect Artur Boruc's goal for more than 180 minutes of Champions League football against AC Milan.

McLeish is an admirer of the 24-year-old's old-school commitment and would prefer to have a youthful accomplice to the 36-year-old David Weir. McManus will be joined by Scott Brown, the irrepressible Hibernian midfielder who reinvigorated Scotland when introduced in place of Gary Teale during a delicate stage of the 2-1 victory against Georgia at Hampden Park. They are expected to form key elements of a 4-5-1 formation, with Kenny Miller at its apex.

"Stephen McManus has Champions League experience and that is often a higher level than international football," said McLeish. "He came through that test with flying colours and playing on Saturday did not frighten him, either.

"He is well capable of playing at this level and has proved it. Scott Brown, too, enjoyed a major cup final win with Hibernian and that will add to his experience and confidence. I have spoken about him in the past. He was part of the B team, but I knew he had the strength to handle the step up."

The Scotland manager conveyed the enormity of tonight's task in Bari with all the subtlety of his uber-trendy sunglasses, which were not required on a dreich day on the Adriatic coast. Yet in reviewing Scotland's barren run of results in Italy, he maintained a historic win against the world champions is achievable.

A Scotland side have yet to return from this country with anything other than a Peroni hangover, a statistic that stretches right back to 1931. In making his point emphatically, McLeish has prepared his team for earning a precious point to preserve the improbable dream.

"Of course it is a major task," he said. "Let's not forget, no Scottish team has ever taken a point from here, and that includes the great managers, the great players and the great teams of the past. They all failed to take anything. Do that and we have made history."

It should be pointed out that Scotland have only met Italian opposition on eight occasions, and have only travelled twice in the last 13 years. None the less, McLeish hardly wore a look of resignation as he finalised preparations for the challenge of France's vanquishers in last summer's World Cup final in Germany. Instead, he exuded a quiet confidence in his new charges. Victory against Georgia at Hampden Park not only ensured a winning start for the new manager - a rarity in itself down the years - but also confirmed Scotland's new-found resilience in overcoming a Shota Arveladze equaliser.

Scotland's positioning ahead of two World Cup finalists in Group B has caused a kerfuffle across the continent and, as the inheritor of international expectations and ambitions, McLeish had adopted an understated philosophy.

"In the past we have bummed our teams up and only set them up for a fall. This team knows the test ahead of them. Any team in the world can come here and lose," he said.

Scotland come in the hope of a draw. Four points from the double-header was the requirement to maintain a serious challenge. Aspiring to a draw and playing for it are vastly different, a theme McLeish explored while defending the likelihood of Miller foraging on his lonesome.

"We have thought about it long and hard," he said of the inevitable system change from 4-4-2. "We had plans before Georgia and they haven't deviated too much from those thoughts. We cannot afford to be too cocky, but we are entitled to be very confident. We have a strong squad and have opportunities to freshen things up. Whoever comes in will not be a gamble.

"I keep hearing about this one up front. It is obvious we have got to defend well, but there is really no difference between us playing one up front or the way France play at home. They have similar tactics and it doesn't mean when we have the ball we will not go forward. If we can, we will try to get three or four men into the box, so that 4-5-1 can quickly become a 4-2-4. We have players with the engines to do that.

"Lee McCulloch, Barry Ferguson and Paul Hartley all showed tremendous energy against Georgia. Some of the workrate was excellent and the midfield showed a huge capacity for that kind of football. We have quality within the camp. Everybody speaks about us in terms of workrate, but the quality is there as well. We don't have what Italy have, but we have our own qualities. A draw would be a fantastic result."

And a win? "If we won I would retire," he laughed. "We have our pride and we will try to go to Italy and take something. I have been looking forward to this one and so should the team. They will be playing against household names."

This modest bunch of Scots would be immortalised if they pull off their most audacious task yet.