Griffiths at a loss following late blow

HERO: Leigh Griffiths PAUL HETHERINGTON SCOTLAND hero Leigh Griffiths admitted last night that the 2-2 draw against England felt like a defeat.

The Celtic striker scored two brilliant free-kicks past Joe Hart in the last three minutes to put Scotland on the brink of a shock victory.

Gordon Strachan’s side had trailed 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but had their bitterest rivals on the ropes thanks to Griffiths’ set-piece double.

But the Scots were denied a famous win by captain Harry Kane’s 93rd-minute equaliser.

Celtic striker Griffiths admitted: “This feels like a defeat.

“England are a great team and they had us under the cosh but once we got in front we should have seen out the game.

“It was a tough ask to get back into the game from 1-0 down but we showed what we are about, great resilience – but you can’t switch off.

“We were punished by a great finish by Kane and that is something he does week in, week out.

“So that has left us feeling frustrated, even though I was obviously pleased with my free-kicks.

“I practice the free-kicks every day in training. It’s not often they come off, it’s special.

“But this could be a big point for us.

“On our day we can match anybody. We know how good this England side are.

“We have four games left and we could win all of them.”

Scotland boss Strachan said: “That was probably the best result in my career and I am nearly 60.

“Nobody can doubt the personality and character of our side.

“When you look at England’s strength, this was like a middleweight boxer having to take on a heavyweight.

“To do what they did was phenomenal.

“You can’t do any more than they did.

“For Leigh to score two goals after the amount of work he put in is taking drive to a new level.”