TALKING SCOTLAND V LITHUANIA, FRIDAY 7.45PM Griffiths goals sent the Tartan Army tonto... if wedon’tmake Russia now it’s double trouble ADMITS JAMES McARTHUR

JAMESMcARTHUR has revealed how the fans’ reaction to Leigh Griffiths’s late double against England has made him more determined to help Scotland qualify for Russia 2018 than ever before.

The Celtic striker appeared to have clinched a famous victory over the Auld Enemy at Hampden back in June when he netted two spectacular freekicks in the final five minutes to put his side 2-1 ahead.

However, Harry Kane of Spurs scored deep into injurytime to ensure that Gareth Southgate’s men secured a 2-2 draw and earned a point.

But McArthur, who came on for James Morrison at half-time in the Group F match, still remembers the roar of the Tartan Army as Griffiths levelled for the home team and and then put them in front.

The Crystal Palace midfielder would like Scotland to beat Lithuania in Vilnius tomorrow evening – and then win their remaining games against Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia – so their renowned supporters can go to the World Cup finals next summer.

He said: “The atmosphere when we scored those two goals was incredible. Incredible. That’s why we need to get there.

“You watch major competitions. You look at the Irish fans, for instance, or the Welsh fans when they got there. That could be us. That could be our fans. We need to do it for them. We need to do whatever it takes. And if that means four wins, we need to do that.

“It’s not a nice feeling as a player or as a Scotland fan watching all the home nations get there and ourselves not. It’s something you want to be involved in as a player. We want to make sure the fans get there as well.”

McArthur scored a late equaliser in the costly 1-1 draw with Lithuania at Hampden back in October and knows the match on the artificial pitch in the LFF Stadium here tomorrow night will be far from straightforward.

However, the 29-year-old believes Scotland can be proud of how they performed against group leaders England despite the disappointment of the final outcome.

“We know from playing Lithuania at home that they are a good side,” he said. “They aren’t going to roll over. But we can go there and take confidence from the last game. Being so unlucky to not get three points against a top nation is something we can take a lot of positives from.

“As I say, the fans that day were incredible. We need to get to the final of that major competition to give the fans a bit of lief, a bit of excitement.”

“They are rooting for their country. To see other countries go to a summer competition while you are back home thinking ‘that could have been us if we had done this or done that’ isn’t great.

“Now we have put ourselves in a position that probably isn’t ideal. It isn’t amazing. But we have given ourselves a chance. After the Lithuania game a lot of people would have been thinking we were done. We re- have put ourselves in a position where we can do it if we get the points we need from the games. That is what everyone is all pulling towards.”

McARTHUR has had a difficult season at club level with Crystal Palace; he only made his comeback from a hamstring injury last month and has been unable to help the Selhurst Park club during their poor start to their Barclays Premier League campaign.

Losing their opening three league games has put new manager Frank de Boer, the Dutch football great who took over from Sam Allardyce in the summer, under i mmediate pressure.

The former Hamilton player, though, has enjoyed working under the ex-Rangers defender, who has previously managed Ajax in his native Netherlands and Inter Milan in Italy, and is positive he can turn their sea-