Sebastien Pocognoli, the new Scotland manager, named his first 28-man squad on Tuesday at Hampden Park, recalling Hull City striker Oli McBurnie for the start of the Nations League campaign.
Twelve players who were part of Scotland's squad at the World Cup in the United States three months ago have dropped out, replaced by 14 new faces, seven of whom have never been capped.
McBurnie's recall ends a five-year absence from the squad. He scored 19 goals for Hull City last season as the club won promotion to the Premier League, but Steve Clarke, Pocognoli's predecessor, left him out of the World Cup squad. McBurnie has never scored for Scotland.
McBurnie's second coming
Pocognoli said he had judged McBurnie on his own terms rather than the past. "When I arrived, I did not have any fixed perception about what had happened in the past - I just needed to make my own perception," he said. "I just wanted to analyse the players who can fit what I want to produce on the pitch. The first consideration was that Oli can fit what I want to produce. I called him and he was really excited to come back. He was a little bit emotional because it is a long time that he wanted to come back."
"But he does not want to come back with revenge in mind or something like this. He wants to be here in the timeline right now and he is in good shape at Hull right now. He just wants to continue this with the Scotland national team," Pocognoli said.
"We need personality, a fighter. We need to recognise the leaders on the pitch. If Andy (Robertson) is not there, if John (McGinn) is not there, it can happen," he added.
New faces and recalls
Scott Bain, Kieron Bowie, Lennon Miller and James Wilson are also back in contention. Bain has benefited from his form at Falkirk and from four goalkeepers being included in the squad. Miller, a high-profile omission from the World Cup squad, has started the season well at Udinese.
Robbie Ure, now playing up front for Sevilla, leads the newcomers. Luis Binks, a former England youth international who plays in central defence for Brondby, has also been called up.
Colby Donovan has seized his chance at Celtic and Josh McPake is in the form of his life at Hearts. Luke Graham is already a regular at Stoke, as is Stephen Welsh at Swansea. Goalkeeper Jon McCracken, now at Bradford, has been named in Scotland squads before but is still waiting for his first cap.
Who missed out
James Penrice, who has impressed at Rangers since joining on loan from AEK Athens, was among those considered unfortunate to be left out. He played well in Rangers' win over Celtic on Sunday, but faces competition from Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Josh Doig and Aaron Hickey for the left-back and left wing-back positions.
Calvin Miller, who has had a strong year at Falkirk and then Hearts, missed out largely because of team-mate McPake's form. Elliot Watt's move from Motherwell to Turkish club Samsunspor is also thought to have worked against his chances of selection.
Injuries, retirements and age
Of the 12 players missing from the World Cup squad, goalkeeper Craig Gordon has retired, while Che Adams, Scott McTominay and Lawrence Shankland are injured and would otherwise have been selected.
Grant Hanley, Lyndon Dykes, Ross Stewart and Dom Hyam are now over 30. Anthony Ralston, John Souttar and Tyler Fletcher need to return to regular club football to be considered, while George Hirst needs to score more goals for Stoke.
Several players from the Clarke era remain in the squad, including Angus Gunn, Robertson, Ryan Christie, McGinn and Kenny McLean. Billy Gilmour has also returned after missing out on the World Cup squad.
A more direct style
Pocognoli's approach signals a shift from Clarke's more cautious style. At Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco, Pocognoli set his teams up to attack with greater numbers, play a high defensive line and press opponents high up the pitch.
"I am quite direct in my game offensively and defensively," Pocognoli said. "I try to be a little bit more on the front foot. We have quality in the team to play direct but with ID, to play through the ground, to explore the depth and be as quick as possible in the opposite box and as high as possible on the pitch. Sometimes you face a good team and you have to be lower, but that is not the main approach. It's always to try to be dominant, especially at home."
Winning over the squad
Pocognoli travelled to London to meet Scotland captain Andy Robertson before phoning every player selected for the squad.
"He was really positive about what happened in the past and I expect my captain to be behind me - that doesn't mean they aren't also behind the previous staff," Pocognoli said. "They were committed and now they want to improve and continue to be successful. It was a nice chat. Informal, but I also got information about how to improve things. It wasn't about what wasn't working, I want to make my own perception."
Pocognoli also said he wanted to preserve the "club" atmosphere Clarke built within the squad, which was credited with reducing player call-offs. "The most important thing is to keep this atmosphere, but with expectation and demands," he said. "It's a good group of players, that's why they have been at tournaments over the last four years because of the cohesion, so I don't want to change this."
"I just want to focus on what we can produce on the pitch and to pair that with a winning mentality, and that for me is the most important thing," he added. "The leaders are dealing well with the group, and now there are new faces, so this is also a test to see if the group will continue like this, but I think that they will do it."
