That Euro 2008 decider against Italy seems a long way off right now but in that campaign things went right down to the wire and our final game. This campaign looks like going the same way and I am sure that when it comes to hosting Holland in our final game of this group, it will mean something again.

The way the first few rounds of matches have panned out there could be a lot of draws because there is so little between the teams, outside of the Dutch. It definitely could be a factor that second place in our section might struggle to match the points total from the other eight and so miss out on the play-offs but that is for worrying about down the line.

It is annoying that we will have this draw hanging over us for five months, with our next competitive game not coming till we go to Holland. That reinforces just how important it was to bag a victory from our first home game. Four points from a possible nine doesn't appear a healthy return but it is all relative. Norway, who are supposed to be our biggest challengers, have only two points from six, with a game against Holland on Wednesday.

I don't think the Norwegians were interested in playing football yesterday. Their tactic was hitting the long ball and even their keeper was party to that approach. It was up to us to create opportunities by moving the ball around. Only in bits and pieces did we do that, and in the last 15 minutes it was Norway who seemed able to make the better openings. I was at fault for one of those when I didn't deal with a high ball well enough and John Carew was able to drive in on goal. Time stood still for me, right up until Craig Gordon saved from him and the follow-up was sent over the bar.

At the other end, Chris Iwelumo probably experienced the same emotions when his big chance to become the hero on his debut came and went in an instant. It would have been wonderful for him to make the headlines for all the right reasons but I'm sure he will be the subject of some that will make for nasty reading and that is tough on him. I don't know if he saw the cross coming or if it caught him out, but from where I was standing it seemed to hit his heel and bounce off him.

All in all, it wasn't an afternoon when we gave a performance to get the Hampden crowd really going. People might say our supporters were subdued but I think they were just like we players, nervously living through a cagey 90 minutes. It is up to us to influence them in a positive way and we didn't do that.