GORDON Strachan has revealed that he opted to stay on as national team manager as he believes Scotland can qualify for the World Cup in Russia in 2018. Having finished fourth in their Euro 2016 group, the national side now face an even tougher equation to qualify for the World Cup in three years' time. Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta and historic rivals England await with just the group winners qualifying automatically and one second-placed side missing out on a playoff place, but Strachan was encouraged enough by the previous campaign to suggest that Scotland can reach their first major finals since 1998. For the record, he also expects Celtic and Scotland captain Scott Brown to still be part of his squad.
"You look at the group and think 'can we qualify?'" said Strachan, speaking to BT Sport ahead of Saturday's Motherwell v Celtic match. "Then you go 'yes we can'. I don't need anyone else's opinion on that one. I look at that myself and say 'can we qualify with the group we have got and the group of players we have got?' and the answer is yes we can. With the support we have got? Yes we can.
"Working with those players is fantastic," added the 58-year-old, who agreed a new two-year deal as Scotland manager on Friday evening. "They spent 66 days away from their families for no match fee and no bonuses. I would ask you to go 66 days away from your families for no extra money. That is hard going, you know, and they did that. They kept turning up with injuries and wanting to play and that satisfies the coaching staff. The fans were magnificent, that helps and the backing they gave us, so there was a lot that was right.
"What I did enjoy was watching them play at times. As a manager you usually just think winning but I actually enjoyed the way they went about it. Their attitude is the most important thing because then you can think that we can get better and we will get better."
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