Robertson set to make history but his hero Dalglish will always be King

Andy Robertson says it gives him "goosebumps" any time he thinks about it.

Friday at Hampden, North Macedonia the visitors, a 102nd cap to be won and, when it is, he'll be level in the pantheon with Sir Kenny Dalglish, the football man he loves more than any other.

On Monday in St Gallen, Switzerland - all being well - Robertson will break the great man's record, a mark that has stood for 40 years.

The Tottenham left-back is sitting in the boardroom at Queen's Park in the shadow of Hampden with a phone in his hand and eyes fixed on his 19-year-old self coming off the bench in Warsaw on 5 March, 2014.

"Nervous, excited, living the dream, not knowing what road I was on," he smiles as he looks at the moment he takes his first touch in international football.

"As I was going on, Gordon [Strachan, Scotland manager] said to me, 'remember why you're here, play like you play at Dundee United, don't play safe'. The first ball, when it came to me, I just drove forward about 30, 40 yards.

"I had pretty much every emotion that day. My mum and dad were there. My brother. My aunt and uncle. My other uncle. There's a picture of me and my brother [Stephen] at the airport after the game. He had a big Poland hat on and a half-and-half scarf. He was well oiled by that point."

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'I've never actually been confident'

Robertson says he'd have laughed out loud had you told him then what lay ahead of him - two Premier Leagues, two League Cups, an FA Cup, a Champions League, a Super Cup, a Club World Cup, soon-to-be the most capped male Scottish players in history and, by a mile, the one with the most games as captain of the men's team.

"I've never actually been confident," he says, which is a surprise admission given everything he's done.

Maybe what he means is that he always had a quiet belief in his own ability but found that constantly questioning himself was who he was and who maybe who he still is.

"I've always doubted myself and that's always got the best out of me. I've always tried to prove people wrong and prove myself wrong. The one thing I didn't do was look too far ahead. I always just lived in the here and now and that's served me well."

In the room where he's talking there are a dozen normal chairs and away to the side, detached from the rest, is an elaborate seat. A high-backed, ornate, somewhat regal affair.

It looks fit for a king and, given the history Robertson's about to make, maybe he should plonk himself in it. And that brings us back to the man whose record he's about to match and surpass.

"There are normal seats but there's one throne and Kenny Dalglish should be sat on it," he says. "Friday night's not about me. Friday night's about the greatest player of all time in our country, and for me, that will always be Kenny.

"He's had this record for so long. He deserves it. If he played in a different era, he would probably have played a number of games that wouldn't have been able to be caught.

"Sometimes - not as a criticism - as a country we're maybe not good at recognising how good people we've got are. For me, he's the best player to ever play with Scotland and arguably Britain.

"We have to appreciate that man because I certainly do, my family certainly do and, I think on Friday, I'll have him at the front of my mind, the back of my mind and I'm not really bothered about myself."

It's a lovely thing, that. Robertson, about to draw level with Dalglish, is only thinking about Dalglish.

The depth of feeling comes tumbling out of him when he starts telling stories about what King Kenny means to his family and how he seemingly created a miracle by momentarily curing Robertson's beloved late grandfather's hearing.

"I always remember my agent talking to me about the first time he met Liverpool," Robertson says of a time when he was still with Hull but about to move to Anfield.

"He met the chief scout and sporting director and all of a sudden Kenny 'accidentally' walked into the room. It was 100% planned, I know it was planned.

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"One of the things right at the top of the list for me was the fact [by joining Liverpool] I got to meet Kenny in person and I've actually got to have a relationship with him and his family, because his family are special.