Scotland left it late but managed to keep their World Cup dream alive with a 1-0 win over Slovakia.

Martin Skrtel's own goal in the dying moments caused jubilation amongst the Tartan Army, who had all but accepted their fate after being denied by the outstanding Slovakia stopper and the crossbar twice.

After holding out for victory Gordon Strachan's men now know that three points in Slovenia on Sunday will secure a qualification play-off spot.

Here we look back on the key talking points from a nail-biting ninety minutes at Hampden.

In such a close contest, changes were always going to have a say in swaying the result one way or the other.

Thankfully for Scotland, Gordon Strachan's substitutions paid dividends.

The home side looked as if they were running out of ideas as they struggled to break down a resolute ten-man Slovakia. Chris Martin's introduction on the hour mark and the change of shape it brought about helped to revitalise the Scots though.

Switching to a 3-5-2 freed up Scotland talisman Leigh Griffiths to go searching for the ball, something which played a key role in the winner, while Andy Robertson was allowed to push further forward up the left flank and became more prominent as a result.

Later on Ikechi Anya's introduction for Kieran Tierney brought a greater attacking threat down the right, with the Derby wing-back driving forward to latch onto Griffiths' pass and deliver the cross that landed sent the country into a state of euphoria.

Barry Bannan has been much-maligned by the Tartan Army of late, and the news of his place at the heart of Scotland's midfield once again was met by dismay by many craving the energy of Callum McGregor or driving runs of John McGinn. While both would have contributed to the cause, Bannan's accuracy of passing short and long played a key role in the Scots' eventual victory on the night.

He lacks the stature to cover the ground in the centre of the park Scotland often requires and missed due to Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown's absence, something that was evident whenever Slovakia switched the play, but once Strachan switched formation and moved the Sheffield Wednesday midfielder into a wider role he came into his own.

Bannan worked well in tandem with Andy Robertson, feeding the marauding Liverpool full-back as he overlapped to get in behind the defence, and produced a couple of tempting crosses that had the Slovakians scrambling to clear.

It would be surprising were he not to start again on Sunday.

Kieran Tierney has become a cult hero for club and country after a run of terrific performances but, unfortunately for Scotland, is played out of position for the national side to shoehorn in two of the nation's best players.

While he continues to defend doggedly in an unfamiliar right-back role, his attacking game is hampered horrendously playing on the right. He looked uncomfortable in forward positions and was hesitant to hit the byline, instead cutting inside onto his favoured left foot to make life easy for the ten-men.

His defensive diligence means he will likely be deployed on the right once again on Sunday, but going forward into the next qualifying campaign finding a structure that gets the best both out of Tierney and Robertson's attacking threat will be key.

Further forward, James Forrest had a difficult evening. His fleet of foot meant he often beat his man but the Celtic winger's end product was frustratingly poor, with crosses often failing to beat the first man. With Forrest, Ryan Fraser, Robert Snodgrass and Matt Phillips all capable of playing wide on the right, Strachan has a number of options at his disposal.

Should he place his faith in Forrest once more, a more consistent and threatening delivery will be essential if Scotland are to book a play-off berth.

Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka did his best to keep Scotland out, pulling off four tremendous saves, two of which were world-class.

In the first half his save from Christophe Berra drew gasps from the Scotland support, while his acrobatic stop to deny James Morrison's goal bound effort seconds after Leigh Griffiths' cracked the bar with a free-kick left many questioning whether it was just not going to be our night.

Scotland were unable to find a way past the inspired Sparta Prague stopper and it took a deflection off his own captain Skrtel to finally do the job.

Martin Skrtel's late own-goal caused euphoric scenes around Hampden that continued long after the final whistle. While the stadium has its critics, the atmosphere after Griffiths' free-kick double salvo against England and last night on full-time has been terrific.

The impressive travelling band of Slovakian supporters added to the atmosphere, creating an impressive din throughout the 90 minutes and displaying graciousness in defeat as they applauded the gleeful Tartan Army hordes heading for the exits.