Scotland are not renowned for overwhelming lesser opponents.
The injured midfield trio of Barry Ferguson, Paul Lambert and Craig Burley will all be missing, while doubts remain over the match fitness of Colin Hendry and Christian Dailly among others.
Nonetheless, while neither manager Craig Brown nor any of his players will openly admit it, there should still be sufficient ability in the Scottish ranks to overcome San Marino's part-timers.
They have not taken part in a competitive international for 18 months and have not scored an international goal since Andy Selva's penalty against Austria two years ago.
Scotland are not renowned for overwhelming lesser opponents.
Craig Brown's team seem to delight in proving that there are 'no easy games in international football these days'.
Scraped victories over Estonia, the Faroe Islands and Bosnia and draws with Lithuania and the Faroes during the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign kept the Tartan Army's expectations bubbling under.
Scotland definitely perform best when they are least expected to - they do not carry the tag of 'favourite' well.
Packed defence
Even little San Marino have held the Scots to defeats of only two goals on the occasions they have played host to the Tartan Army.
Andy Roxburgh took his squad to Serravalle in 1991 for a European Championship qualifier and returned with a 2-0 victory, as did Craig Brown's troops on the way to qualifying for Euro 96.
Victories of 4-0 and 5-0 at home showed the benefit of playing on a pitch which allowed the Scots to stretch the packed San Marino defence.
With the plethora of injuries Craig Brown has to contend with, it is a different type of selection problem the manager has.
He may have to ask players to play out of position - Don Hutchison will probably fill one of the vacated midfield berths and he may be partnered by Hearts' Colin Cameron or Gary Holt of Kilmarnock.
Jackie McNamara looks certain to start, most likely in the right wing-back position, while Kevin Gallacher will captain the side on the occasion of his 50th cap.
Gary Naysmith, who impressed when he appeared as a sub against Latvia, could start the match.
San Marino have problems of their own - Selva, the scorer of their last goal and the team's only full-time professional, is suspended.
They also have something of a psychological barrier to get over - in the 44 international matches they have played, they have avoided defeat in just one, a 0-0 draw with Turkey in 1994.
Craig Brown knows they are unlikely to allow Scotland too much space in the final third of the park, so the passing game Brown usually encourages may be abandoned for a more direct approach.
In any event, the travelling Scotland support are unlikely to be anticipating an avalanche of goals.