Darren Fletcher devastated after ‘low blow’ ends Scotland’s hopes of making

Lewandowski, the deadliest goal scorer in world football today, this week predicted he will be kicked off the ball at Hampden and issued and appeal to Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai to protect him.

But the hosts could not survive the remaining half an hour without the lethal Lewandowski popping up again, with the Bayern Munich striker bundling the ball over the line in a stoppage-time scramble.

The stunned Scotland fans eventually found their voice and urged their team on as they pushed for an opening but couldn’t find a way past a Polish defensive unit that had conceded just seven goals in qualifying.

“People might say you’re being a bit easy on yourselves but you look at the games – last night, the first goal looks offside to me and the second goal was really soft”.

Three key players are out for Scotland, with regular starter James Morrison, winger Ikechi Anya and versatile defender Charlie Mulgrew all on the sidelines.

Missing out on another major tournament is an nearly unbearable thought, as the Tartan Army have not managed to qualify for one since the 1998 World Cup. “I get on well with the coach”.

“We’re all fully commited for Sunday, we can’t let our heads drop”.

“I can’t remember getting anything lucky ourselves”. It was late in the game and it was sheer exasperation. All that would take is for Poland to beat Scotland and Ireland will be through to the play-offs regardless of their results in the final two games.

You could perhaps argue that Scotland’s lack of points on the board going into a crucial make-or-break qualifier may have also had something to do with it, but hey ho.

“He’s one of the best I’ve played against”, he said.

And in any case, Ireland’s shocking 1-0 win over Germany is what actually mathematically eliminated Scotland from advancing to Euro 2016 – not the selfie.

“We are not thinking of the play-off, all we are thinking about is winning the game”. I’m delighted that we have a full house. “Let’s just go for the win, eh?”

Players like him and (Thomas) Muller and (Mario) Gotze for Germany who are in our group are all in that top five or six in Europe.

“Of course, he is a great manager”, said the Celtic player when asked about Strachan’s future.

Strachan’s contract ends after the match with Gibraltar tomorrow and there is a few uncertainty over whether he will continue in the job.