And so it begins. After the ups and downs of the Nations League, a new qualifying campaign is upon us.

And it all kicks off with a far-flung adventure 3000 miles away from Glasgow in the capital of Kazakhstan.

STV is in the central Asian nation, where Scotland will kick off their bid to reach Euro 2020 on Thursday.

I've been out in Astana before with Celtic, but that was in the summer, and it's an entirely different experience in March.

Astana is the second coldest capital in the world, after Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

It was -9C when we arrived with a strong wind thrown in for good measure and the cold truly takes your breath away.

In between the glittering skyscrapers, palaces, mosques and spaceship-style shopping centres there are large expanses of snow-covered grass and, unsurprisingly, very few people are walking the streets.

Astana is six hours ahead of the UK, and we've been advised to stay on British time, like the squad, to avoid feeling any jet lag symptoms.

It's easier said than done. I've set my watch for UK time and phone for Astana time but still no idea what time it actually is.

So far, it's been a breakfast of pea soup at 1pm and dinner at midnight in the hotel bar. And while I'm usually happy to try out new cuisines, I've avoided the country's speciality of horse meat, which, judging by the menus, appears to be in plentiful supply.

Hopefully it will be neigh bother for Scotland on Thursday...