DRAW AGAINST DUTCH COULD YET BE ENOUGH.

GEORGE BURLEY and Scotland could sneak into the World Cup play-offs with just a draw against Holland.

The back-door route has been thrown open by 180 minutes of cut-throat Group Three action in Chorzow and Bratislava at the weekend.

A point for Scotland against Holland will secure second spot in Group Nine after Norway's failure to beat Iceland - and may be enough to reach the play-offs if results in Group Three go our way.

From the nine groups the eight best runners-up will go into four winner-takes-all showdowns.

One unlucky runner-up will lose out and Scotland are dangerously close to being that team despite currently sitting sixth in the table.

However, a victory over Holland will mean it is all back on thanks to Northern Ireland, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia slitting each other's throats on Saturday.

As Scotland's group is the only one with five nations, the rest will be modified at the end of the campaign to exclude results against the bottom-placed team.

At this stage seven are still up the air but San Marino are guaranteed to finish last in Group Three and that is where our hope lies.

Scotland will reach 13 points if they beat the Dutch and set a good target for theother teams to chase, while a draw will leave us on 11.

GROUP 1 HUNGARY are being challenged by Sweden for second and have beaten Malta, who look certs to finish bottom, twice.

So the Hungarians need seven points from their last three games - a double-header against Portugal then a clash with Denmark - to reach a revised 14 points.

Sweden are also a danger having won 2-1 in Budapest on Saturday.

They would need five points from games against Denmark and Albania to reach a revised 14.

GROUP 2: GREECE and Latvia are joint second on a revised 10 and either nation would need four points from two matches to top Scotland's best possible total.

GROUP 3: THIS is Scotland's big hope and Burley wants Slovakia to clinchthe group. Northern Ireland are second but their six points from wins over San Marino will be wiped, taking them back to eight.

Nigel Worthington's team need full points from their last two games against Slovakia and Czech Republic to reach 14.

Poland are virtually out of it as, having played San Marino twice, they sit on just five.

Slovenia would also need six points from games against the Poles and Slovakia to hit 14.

The Czechs have to beat both Poland and Northern Ireland to reach 12.

If Northern Ireland or Slovenia draw their last two games they would finish on 10 so Burley is hoping for stalemates galore in the remaining fixtures.

GROUP 4: RUSSIA are in charge of second spot behind leaders Germany and, barring a miracle, both will easily beat Scotland's projected top total. GROUP 5: SPAIN are clear with a 100 per cent record and Bosnia-Herzegovina are favourites for second.

Armenia look booked for last so five points from games against Turkey, Estonia and Spain would be enough for the Balkan side.

Turkey could sneak ahead of Scotland with wins over Bosnia and Belgium. A draw on Wednesday between Bosnia and Turkey would be hugely helpful.

GROUP 6: CROATIA are second and will fight with Ukraine for the place behind winners England.

If Andorra, as expected, come last, Slaven Bilic's team will fall to 11 points with two games to play. GROUP 7: FRANCE are well placed on a revised 11 points behind Serbia and likely to finish out of Scotland's reach.

GROUP 8: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND are second with Italy in pole position.

Cyprus, Montenegro and Georgia are separated by just two points, making it difficult to forecast who will finish last.

If, as it stands now, Ireland finish second and Georgia last, the Republic will need four points from games against Italy and Montenegro to move above 13.

Bulgaria would have to beat Cyprus and Italy to have any hope.