GORDON Strachan last night played down the loss of key Scotland players Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown ahead of the crucial Russia 2018 qualifier with Slovakia – by stressing they were not irreplaceable like Sergio Aguero or Lionel Messi.
Armstrong and Brown have been ruled out of a match the national team must win to keep alive their hopes of finishing runners-up in Group F and securing a World Cup play-off spot.
The Celtic midfielders have been important for their country during the victories over Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta and the draw with England this year.
However, Strachan stressed he has strength in depth in their position and revealed the individuals who were set to replace them at Hampden on Thursday night were all confident they could come in and make his side perform even better.
He said: “If we spoke to the players after the games we’ve played recently and said to (Matt) Ritchie, (Barry) Bannan and another couple of lads: ‘Do you think you would have made the team better?’ They would all have said ‘aye’. If we had asked Ryan Fraser ‘do you think you would have made the team better?’ he would have said ‘yep, I’m not saying I am better than anyone, but I can do that’.
“That’s fine. I don’t think there is an inferiority complex with any of them, because I don’t think we have players who are that far ahead.
“It is different if it is Messi. If you asked a player ‘do you want to step in for Messi?’ they would say ‘no, I don’t want to step in for Messi!’
“If you asked them ‘do you want to step in for Aguero?’ They would say ‘no, I don’t want to do that either, I’d rather just sit on the bench and watch’. So we’re not there, no.
“I’ve got to say that if we can handle things better in one area of the team than others it’s in midfield. We’ve got good characters in here, some really good characters.”
Strachan, howvere, will be without Ritchie after the Newcastle United player withdrew on Sunday after being named Man of the Match in the game against Liverpool.
The Scotland manager has, meanwhile, named former skipper Darren Fletcher as Brown’s replacement as squad captain.
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