Striker sings praises of his manager’s resolve

stuck at it. He doesn’t let it get to him, he just concentrates on his job and working with the players.

‘That’s the good thing about him. He doesn’t do what everyone wants him to do. He does what he wants. You have to give him massive credit for that.

‘Everyone will go and pat him on the back if we get that win in Slovenia. He’s said he loves working with us and you saw in the last four or five performances how well we’ve done.’

Wins over Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia, plus the draw against England inspired by Griffiths, have this year sent Scotland soaring into the runners-up berth.

Now the 27-year-old is preparing to lead the line in Slovenia this evening in what he agrees is the biggest game of his career.

‘It’s not just us we are playing for and the 18 people in the squad — there’s five million out there,’ said Griffiths.

‘We sent a lot of folk home happy from Hampden, the place was rocking.

‘But we can’t get carried away because it counts for nothing if we don’t do the job in Slovenia. It’s another big push.

‘However, it’s a game we are more than capable of winning. Slovenia are not a bad side either. We have to put in another massive performance to get the win. We are capable of beating them.

‘After the England home game, we were all really hurting thinking we should have got the three points. It would have been a massive, massive boost.

‘But it’s a point nobody expected us to get and it’s a point that might help us with getting into a play-off.’

Strachan last week described the transformation in Griffiths from his first Scotland outing for the manager in June 2013 against Croatia as ‘beyond belief’.

Griffiths is a far more rounded performer now than when cast in the lone striker role for that shock 1-0 victory. He’s scoring Champions League goals and netting world-class free-kicks against England.

Also, the evolution of his team efforts were displayed on Thursday.

‘It’s down to hard work,’ he said. ‘There were a lot of times last season where I felt down on myself by not playing, Moussa (Dembele) being in there and I was injured. It was frustrating.

‘But I was working hard behind the scenes, every day on my rehab stuff to keep myself fit. I’m working every day with the manager at Celtic and it’s paying off.

‘I’m lasting 90 minutes now when before I’d only get 60. Hopefully that’s my calf injury problems behind me. I’m still wary of it but I just want to get back through it and help the team as much as I can.

‘That comes with age and beforehand it was about trying to score myself. I look at the bigger picture now. It’s not just about yourself, you need to help the team. We need to push in the one direction.’