When Age Hareide first came to Britain almost 30 years ago, it was the Scots who taught him how to mix it. The Norway manager has spent all week fondly recalling how he was influenced by the Scottish element in the dressing-room at Norwich City and Manchester City, who could not wait for the chance to kick their own English team-mates in training.

It is an anachronism. Just as the Norwegians no longer wear Viking helmets and travel by longship, so Scottish football has moved on. George Burley may have been part of that era but he is not keen to live in the past. The Scotland manager wants his team to play pure, undiluted football - all the way to South Africa.

Burley and Hareide will resume an association today at Hampden Park which can be traced back to the East Anglian derbies of the early 1980s. Burley - and his assistant manager, Terry Butcher - were part of an Ipswich Town side that won the Uefa Cup in 1981 and ought to have won the English title the same season. They would never run away from a fight but that Ipswich side would never have enjoyed such success if it had not been able to play a bit after winning the battle.

Burley has taken the philosophy of attacking football drilled into him by his old Ipswich manager, Sir Bobby Robson, and shaped it for the 21st century. The last time Norway came to Glasgow, in October 2004, they beat the Scots at their own game by getting physical and pillaged three World Cup points that marked the beginning of the end for Berti Vogts.

“That's an old thing,” Burley said yesterday when asked if Scotland really does conform to a view that the football world holds about our approach. “Everyone else always says that we play the long-ball game and are big and strong. I am looking to achieve something with Scotland, based on what I believe about football.

“We have players with ability and we certainly don't go back-to-front. All week in training we have been working on passing combinations and good movement. Football has developed a long way since the days when we had four strikers up front standing about when the ball was not around them. Everyone works hard these days, either when you have the ball or when you don't.

“Football is not a black-and-white issue. I have players who are capable of taking opponents on. I feel the midfield is the strongest area of my team, even without Barry Ferguson. We have great depth there and it would be silly for us to bypass that unit.

“As a club manager, I tried to play attacking football and as an international manager, I want to share that philosophy. I am a firm believer that if you want to progress, then you build a team your way. I have put down a style and a shape for the players in training and I hope to see it against Norway. We have talented players. Sometimes, you need a bit of luck as well.

“We did not get that against Macedonia, with the penalty decisions, but maybe we did slightly against Iceland - but I would not have thought of changing the style of play. You will have ups and downs in football.

“I am still learning about the players' strengths and weaknesses. It is a learning curve for us all but they also showed the other side of the game, the passion and commitment, when we went down to ten men against Iceland and we held on to win. I want us to continue the style of play we have now, I want the passing to be sharp because we have footballers who can do it.”

If Burley has an embarrassment of riches in midfield, even without Ferguson, the emergence of James Morrison and the second coming of Shaun Maloney have given the manager fresh options. “They can both play wide and any team needs that now,” Burley said. “If you give Shaun and James the ball to their feet, they will hold it and create something. You have to play to your strengths and they are ours.”

Maloney was used sparingly by Walter Smith, despite being voted Scotland's football of the year in 2006 for his contribution at Celtic. His spell at Aston Villa proved he could score against top-class opposition such as Chelsea, but his return to Celtic Park in August has coincided with greater responsibility for the national team.

“Shaun did very well in Macedonia and in the second half against Iceland,” Burley said. “He can play as a front man but he is a natural wide player who has the ability to take people on.”

Morrison was on the other side of Birmingham to Maloney. The West Bromwich Albion player has made huge progress since Tony Mowbray spoke to Burley last season about the English-born player with Scottish parents in his ranks at the Hawthorns. “James is maturing all the time,” Burley said. “He has looked strong in training all week and that comes from doing well in the Premiership.

“He has scored a couple of goals for West Brom. He is a clever player who finds space for himself and gets in between the back four and their midfield to receive the ball.

“I spoke to Tony Mowbray recently and he's very happy with James. He has a real chance to succeed. I saw him against Arsenal when they lost 1-0 at the Emirates and James played in the centre of midfield but for us, he is best in a wide role.”

Burley is not keen to hark back to the 4-5-1 formation that served Smith and Alex McLeish so well, but he would love to recreate the atmosphere that provided a backdrop to the near-miss Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. “I was at Hampden when we beat France and the noise was incredible. That team did the country proud even if we did not qualify but I think we can go a step further this time.”