Strachan shrugs off threat of the sack

SCOTLAND manager Gordon Strachan is ‘not bothered’ about the prospect of being sacked after Friday’s World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley.

Strachan is under considerable pressure after a 3-0 defeat in Slovakia last month left his team fourth in the Group F table with just four points from three games.

But he insists his only fear is letting his country down.

‘People say, am I worried about getting the sack? Am I b*******. I am 59, I will go and play golf. I can go and do what I want.

‘What I wouldn’t want like is to let people down. That is the thing that bothers me. I really would like to take a nation and the players and the backroom staff where I’ve been as a player, to a tournament.

‘Next week I’ll either be delirious or not. But what will not bother me is getting the sack. Absolutely not.’ Strachan was speaking at an after-dinner event at one of his former clubs Leeds on Friday night.

Appearing relaxed ahead of his crunch game, he brought the house down by telling fans: ‘You are fortunate because this week I’m the Scotland manager, next week you never f***ing know.’

But he promised to make life difficult for England who are strong favourites.

‘You have these wonderful players with England while I go and watch my players at Aston Villa v Blackburn,’ he said. ‘But it is a one-off game. I know it’s going to be difficult, I’m not stupid, but bring it on.

‘We’ll have a system that will make it hard for them. And we will have 40,000 Scots there.’