It is nice to see Scotland topping the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifying group. Even nicer if you happen to be Billy Stark as he is the man charged with steering the national side to the top. He says he is not surprised at all to see his side as joint top of their ahead of this weekend's game in Azerbaijan. However, he thinks their closest rivals – Austria and Belarus – have been stunned to see how well Scotland have performed so far. The three sides sit on nine points after four games knowing there is still everything to play for in the group.

Stark said: "Austria and Belarus sit beside us on nine points, leading the group. That's not unexpected. But what is maybe unexpected for them is us sitting there. As the first two seeds, they maybe thought it would be between those two countries to go through. They will feel there is a bit more for them to do because we have managed to get to the halfway stage on equal terms with them. Really, it comes down to the four games that are left. It's all there for whoever can grasp it. We realise we've got everything to do. We've got a real tough game in Azerbaijan. If we can come out of there unscathed, it really sets us up."

The next two games for Scotland are against bottom side Azerbaijan, with the first of those games in Baku on Saturday night and the return at home in March next year.