BILLY STARK hopes Scotland can start building for a brighter future when his Under-21 stars face Slovakia and Luxembourg in the coming days.

The second string round off their Euro 2015 qualification campaign aiming to end on a high note but know they need a miracle to claim one of the best runner-up spots on offer.

It has been a frustrating section for Stark's side, who were thumped 6-1 by Group 3 leaders Holland on their last outing in May.

The Blues boss has drafted in a number of younger players to his final squad of the campaign and is eager to finish in style as they gear up to face Slovakia on Thursday and Luxembourg next Monday.

He said: "We have to be realistic. There is nothing historically to suggest that even two wins would be enough for us to qualify.

"We don't harbour any hopes in that respect so we have brought in some younger ones and kept a core of older players, although Stuart Armstrong had to pull out injured. It is about balance.

"Slovakia are a really good team who have a chance of qualifying. We had a terrific game with them in Paisley and it was our best performance of the campaign.

"We will have our hands full coping with them and Luxembourg have improved as well, so it is two tough games. When you look at the international calendar, you don't have that much time and you would like to have the players together more, so we are using this to get them in early and work towards the next campaign."

Scotland go into the double header fourth in the Group 3 standings having taken seven points from their six qualifiers so far but could yet finish best of the rest behind the dominant Dutch.

Our hopes of reaching the finals in the Czech Republic were dashed last year as Stark's side lost 2-1 in Georgia and could then only draw the return fixture at St Mirren Park.

And the 57-year-old coach admits those games ultimately proved costly as we prepare for a low-key finale to the campaign.

Stark said: "I think there is a template for the likes of ourselves to have a chance of qualifying. You need to take six points from the fifth-pot team, you need to take four or six from the fourth-pot team, three or four from the second or third-pot team, which is Slovakia, and anything you take from the big team is a bonus.

"If you look at that, the Georgia games are the ones that cost us. We took one point from six. They were decent opposition, we just didn't do ourselves justice in those games in terms of getting the points return that we needed.

"Previously we'd managed to take the chances of qualifying to the last minute of each group stage so this is an unusual situation for us. But we have to look to maximise it and that is why some of the younger ones are in."