Gordan Petric shrugged off the impact of Scotland captain Andy Robertson as he bullishly claimed Serbia will coast to victory on Thursday night.
Steve Clarke 's side are bidding to end a 23-year wait to qualify for a tournament and former Rangers stopper Petric spent eight years of his career north of the border.
Serbia have had no such qualification problems of their own after making the 2018 World Cup in Russia and Petric, who also turned out for Dundee United and Hearts, was delighted with last month's win over Norway in Oslo.
Yugoslavia cap Petric, born in Belgrade, reckons the home side have the stronger squad - and dismissed any threat from Liverpool star Robertson.
He said: "If we play as well as we did in Norway, Scotland will provide us with no problems and we win.
"It's going to be an interesting game with no fans and just the one-off game rather than the usual two-legged matches. It means the match will be played differently.
"Everyone in Scotland thinks Andy Robertson can win the game for them. I agree he is the best left back in the world right now, but he is a defender and he can't harm us from there.
"I think both national teams are strong, but we have the better quality of player and I believe this will be proved on the pitch when we meet."
