Scotland manager Gordon Strachan: England result harsh on players

Adam Lallana reckons England’s victory over Scotland was less comfortable than the 3-0 score line suggests.

Three goals, all headers, sent England into World Cup qualifying recess top of Group F.

If Southgate is handed a contract, he might not be facing Gordon Strachan in the opposite dugout when England travels to Scotland in June.

Darren Fletcher then fired one over the top before the break, and Gordon Strachan’s side picked up where they left off at the start of the second half too when James Forrest dragged an effort wide from the edge of the box after a clever dummy from Griffiths.

While England were guilty of sloppiness at times against the Scots, particularly in the opening exchanges of each half, they proved far more ruthless in front of goal than industrious but limited opponents.

“I’ll think “How’d you get on Gordon?”

The result maintained England’s unbeaten start to their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation, and makes it all-but-certain that Southgate will now be confirmed as Sam Allardyce’s permanent successor.

Southgate, however, said he has given little thought over the possibility of taking up the England job on a permanent basis.

Other than their exciting play, the team had little direction and no obvious threat, with passes too often telegraphed and Scotland being the side to actually offer a coherent approach for much of the game despite their position on the wrong end of the scoreline.

The FA are set to decide on Allardyce’s permanent successor after next week’s friendly against Spain but Southgate is keen for all parties to have a period of reflection. We’ve now got a different challenge to prepare for in Spain, which will be a great test for us.

It was the last attempt of note as England took their foot off the gas, with the home fans cheering every touch as pockets of the vociferous 14,000 travelling support made an early exit.

“He has given good stability”, said Lallana. At the same time I feel really really hurt that they had to go through that last 15 minutes after putting in so much and believing in what we were trying to do. “They displayed lots of the things we worked on in the week”.

Strachan went into this game with many people discussing his future as Scotland manager after a stuttering start to their campaign.

“The game was cruel to them tonight, really cruel to them”. But I also think there’s a group of staff, it’s not just about me.

Cahill completed a miserable trip south of the border for Scotland in the 61st minute when he was left unmarked to connect with captain Wayne Rooney’s corner.