LEIGH GRIFFITHS WE’LL DO IT FOR THE NATION
Strach will tell Griff to keep cool if he sends nation wild
Leigh Griffiths last night issued a rallying cry to the nation as they prepared for one last World Cup push and insisted: We’re doing this for five million.
The striker has spearheaded a stunning revival in Scotland’s Group F fortunes over the past year. Now a win over Slovenia will book a World Cup play-offff place, the closest we’ve been to o the finals since we appeared at t France 1998.
And Griff iths knows the e scale of the task facing them as s he prepares to lead the line in n Ljubljana in the biggest gamee of his international career.
He said: “It’s not just us we’ree
Gordon Strachan will warn talisman Leigh Griffiths not to lose his head if he scores the goal that fires Scotland a step closer to the World Cup.
The on-fire striker will lead Strachan’s attack in Slovenia tonight as his side chase one final crucial Group F win.
But while Griffiths will be gunning for the goal that takes us into a play-off, he’s also one booking away from being banned from the first leg of an eliminator.
The Celtic star wound up Rangers fans last month when he cleaned his hand on an Ibrox corner flag seconds after wiping his beak and also appeared to blow his nose into part of a fan tifo display.
That came after he tied a scarf to a goalpost at Ibrox last season then again at Linfield in European action after a Buckfast bottle had been thrown at him.
And before his side’s final practice session in Ljubljana last night, Strachan revealed he’s set for a heart-to-heart.
Asked if he would be giving Griffiths a special warning ahead of the makeor-break showdown, Strachan said: “You might be right, yeah. That is something I’ll have a conversation with him about. I’ll need to have a word.
“His performances of late have been terrific. He was magnificent the other night. His part in the goal was unbelievable.
“We had talked to them about pushing themselves that little bit more than you think you can. Then you see the way he stretched to get to the ball just to toe-poke it through to Ikechi Anya. That toe-poke won us the game.
“That’s the difference at this level. People talk about systems and tactics but when it came down to it, what won us that game? Leigh Griffiths turning, stretching – even though he might get hurt – and toe pokes it. That’s what made the difference.” James McArthur,
Charlie Mulgrew, Barry Bannan, James Morrison and Grant Hanley are all one yellow away from a suspension but Griffiths is Strachan’s major concern.
And he hinted he is not minded to shuffle his pack too drastically despite Thursday’s draining win over Slovakia.
He said: “It was a gruelling game but Slovenia were involved in a gruelling game against England as well.
“Do they freshen it up? Do we need to freshen it up? Is there enough time in terms of putting a new system together?
There is very little time to do anything. The day after the game footballers cannot take anything in apart from, ‘ Well done, that was great’. They’re too tired.
“We got here today, we will have a training session tonight, we have done some video analysis already and that’s enough for them.
“It is very hard to refresh. Some top, top clubs can just do that and change systems etc – but we have to put in a bit more work.”
And Strachan, again without an injured Scott Brown, warned the nation to brace itself for a nailbiter. He said: “I expect it will be another nervous night. When the game starts the best place to be
is on the park. That’s what Broonie said to me the other night and he was right. If you’re on the pitch you can do something about it. But the second best place to be is where I’m standing. For the rest of you? It’s going to be hard work for everybody else.
“I might not be out there but I can tell the boys, ‘I’m here with you, I can feel a part of it when you are there with the bodies round about you’.
“The biggest problem I had the other night was when I went chasing after the ball and as I was running to it I thought, ‘I’m going to fall on my a*** here!’. I could see it appearing on YouTube. That was my biggest problem of the night.
“The good news is we have shown throughout the campaign that we keep going until the very end. It shows we have a fitness level.
“People talk about mental strength but I could put you guys out there and I know you’d try as hard as you could to get a victory for Scotland but couldn’t do it because you are not fit enough.
“You’d give it your best but you’d be knackered after 20 minutes. So you have to have the physical strength to keep the mental strength going.
“Our players have shown they have that in their locker. The fans know we have it in our locker as well. “It’s going to be difficult because Slovenia are a good side and they’ll believe they should have been in second place had it not been for some lastminute goals.
“They are a big, big team – bigger than Slovakia who are a big side. They are physically strong. They have played 4-4-2 from what we have been watching.
“People kind of pooh-pooh that but you can play it as long as you have two strikers who can get about the park, work back and you have four midfield players.
“But we know what is at stake and we’d have taken second place had we been offered it at the start – to win your last game to get a place in the play-offs. We all agreed at the start of the group that with what England have got, second place would
be a smashing achievement.”
Chasing the ball I thought ‘I’m going to fall on my a***’. I could see it being on YouTube