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GORDON Strachan told Scotland hero Chris Martin he’s joined some illustrious company – after the striker was booed after coming on against Slovenia.
The Fulham forward’s 88th minute winner secured a dramatic 1-0 victory for his country.
However, his strike came just six minutes after some members of the Tartan Army had reacted angrily to him replacing James Morrison.
Strachan, whose side are now just two points behind second-placed Slovakia in Group F, has assured the forward some legendary players suffered similar abuse.
“Chris is in good company because they booed Kenny Dalglish, Gary McAllister and Alan Hansen,” he said.
“How’s that for company? He must be some player. It’s a great club to be in. If you can wind up with them, it’s fantastic.
“Seriously, though, Chris gets a good reception from team mates and staff. That’s why we pick him. The goal was a sweet moment for him, and the players. Everybody knows we deserved to win so it was a sweet moment for anybody who wanted to enjoy the victory with us.
“Anybody who gave us a thought, who wanted us to win tonight. It doesn’t matter what age, whatever you do, that was for them.
“Some people can’t see it with Chris. If you don’t understand the game then you have a problem understanding what players are all about.”
Strachan also singled out Stuart Armstrong, the Celtic midfielder who was named man of the Match after making his first appearance for Scotland, for special praise.
“Stuart Armstrong was the best Scottish debut I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“He did well, but there were other guys who were special as well.”
Strachan, who would almost certainly have lost his job as manager if his side had failed to win, rated the performance as the best of his four year tenure.
“It was probably the best they have played under me,” he said. “Everything went well, considering we were giving away height and strength. They had to be at their best. We got that.”
Meanwhile, Strachan, whose side was watched by a crowd of little over 20,000 fans, expressed hope the impressive performance will tempt more supporters to come out and back them in future.
“Everybody who was involved will go away feeling good about themselves,” he said. “I hope they enjoyed it. We are available for people to come along and support us next time! They will be welcome. I know they will give us that support.
“The points were the most important thing and I think the performance and everything else helps as well. They have a feeling now that they can go and match quite a few international teams now.
“We are close, that’s for sure. I was hoping it wasn’t too close, if you can work that out, but they detached themselves from the emotion of the game to produce things.”
Strachan added: “I’m quite calm now and I was quite calm during the game. Yougetabitemotionalwhen things are not going well for your team. I can’t complain about that tonight.”