GORDON Strachan last night admitted that choosing a striker for the crucial Russia 2018 qualifier against Slovenia tomorrow night will be the biggest decision of his four year reign as Scotland manager.
And Strachan also revealed he could go with two up front in a Group F match which his side has to win to keep their slim hopes of reaching the World Cup finals next summer alive and spare him from the sack.
Only one of the five forwards in the national squad – Steven Fletcher, Leigh Griffiths, Chris Martin, Steven Naismith and Jordan Rhodes have all been called up – has been playing regularly at club level in recent weeks.
And Rhodes, who has been starting for Sheffield Wednesday since moving to the Sky Bet Championship club on loan, last featured in a competitive fixture for his country nearly two years ago and is more effective playing with a strike partner alongside him.
That presents a massive problem for Strachan, whose team is second bottom of their group after winning just one of their four games, going into the meeting with the second-placed side in their section.
Asked if naming his striker for what he has conceded is a “must-win” game would be the most important call of his tenure, he said: “Yes, because we can’t afford to get it wrong.
“Listen, I don’t think we could have done any more coaching or worked any more on shape. But in club football, management is all about recruitment and making sure you get the right people in.
“In international football it’s all about picking the right people on the day. I’ve got to back myself to make that call. We understand the consequences otherwise.”
Strachan has opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation for the vast majority of his matches in charge and has played Fletcher, Griffiths, Martin and Naismith in attack by themselves in recent competitive outings.
However, he played both Rhodes and Griffiths together for the last half an hour of the friendly international against Canada at Easter Road on Wednesday evening and stated that he could repeat the experiment.
He said: “There has to be a striker who says ‘pick me’. There has to be one who says ‘I’m your one, it has to be me,’ but it might be we play two strikers. It’s something we’ve got to look at. But for the game somebody has to come to the fore and lead us. They need to lead the line and bring others into play. It’s one I’ll think a lot about before naming the team on Saturday night.
“I’ve got to look at all the strikers and ask myself who is the best for this game. It has to be the best one to play with the team I’m going to pick.
“It’s got to be someone who is compatible with the rest of the players. I’ve got a good idea who the rest of the players will be.”
Strachan is set to hand Stuart Armstrong, the Celtic midfielder who has netted 12 goals for the Scottish champions, his debut for Scotland tomorrow evening.
The 60-year-old admitted, in a clear reference to the success which Armstrong has enjoyed in front of goal in the 2016/17 campaign, that he would be looking to his midfielders to pitch in with the goals which secure a morale-boosting triumph.
“I tried to give everybody a bit of a game against Canada and have a glimpse,” he said. “But I think we saw rustiness. It might be that we have goals in the squad, but it might not always be strikers you play who score.”
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