Steven Fletcher – Strachan is man to lead Scotland

Poland missed chances through Tomasz Jodlowiec and Piszczek before a scramble in the box following a free-kick in stoppage time saw Lewandowski prod the ball over the line for an equaliser that sent Scotland out.

When asked to sum up his feelings, Strachan said: “If I’m like the rest of the nation, I’m hugely disappointed for the players”.

“I think we have become one dimensional just over the last couple of games”, said Strachan. They’ve lost just 1 of their qualifying matches so far and have scored more goals than any other team in qualifying.

Strachan pointed to the first-half goals Germany scored last month, a deflected effort and a rebound off the post.

“Although we had done our homework we never thought the Scottish players would play such a fantastic game”.

“The surface is great for your control and the rules mean the players are looked after so everything is right”.

Those two games underlined that negative mindset of “a draw will do” that has set Scotland back over these last 18 years. That’s over a year’s work.

Speaking at the Estadio Algarve, the Celtic captain said: “I was devastated because it was a huge chance for us, and it was another Euros that we didn’t get to”.

“Hopefully we can build on that and I am sure one day we will see better results”, said the 32-year-old Chipolina, the defender who plays with Gibraltar champions Lincoln Red Imps along with half the squad.

Strachan’s contract ends after the match with Gibraltar tomorrow and there is a few uncertainty over whether he will continue in the job. They’re the priority at the moment, those guys in there and my coaching staff.

“And for me to talk about myself is wrong”.

“I have people in this building hurting and I need to look after them”.

Scotland’s dream of reaching the 2016 European Championship finals was ended by an injury-time leveller by Poland striker Robert Lewandowski.

“I had a lot of faith in my team”.

When those statistics were subsequently put to Nawalka at Poland’s pre-match press conference, he smiled before saying: “We are anticipating a very hard game”. “Since I have come in the ideas of how we are going to play and the way we approach games has been very much the same and I think that is important”.

“We have our game plan, we feel we have prepared well mentally and tactically”.

However, Strachan revealed he will be focusing fully on helping Scotland to collect all three points at Hampden and will not be paying any attention to events at the Aviva Stadium.

“If you have to deal with something like that, pride and a sense of achievement, whether it be a draw or good goals, you are always going to get that”.