STRACHAN HAS LEIGH’S SUPPORT

SCOTLAND striker Leigh Griffiths claims it would be the height of nonsense to sack under-fire Gordon Strachan just three games into the new World Cup qualifying campaign. The Celtic forward is regularly overlooked by the national team boss and this week changed his Twitter name to #Shorty after Strachan admitted a player’s height is a key consideration when picking his line-up. But after joking he’d wear six-inch heels if it meant he got a start, Griffiths insisted there is no row between himself and the manager. And he remains adamant Strachan is the best man to lead Scotland to Russia despite picking up just four points from their first three group games ‘Talk of the manager leaving is just madness,’ he said. ‘Changing midway through a qualifying campaign makes no sense. ‘One hundred per cent, I don’t think there’s anyone else better equipped to lead Scotland to the World Cup than Gordon Strachan.’ The national team boss has not ruled out picking Griffiths but said he needed ‘a certain amount of height on the field to defend corner kicks’. So far he has preferred either Chris Martin or Steven Fletcher, but Griffiths won’t be calling him for an explanation and has vowed to knuckle down in his bid to win a starting place. ‘Will I become the first Scottish player to wear sixinch heels on my boots? If they make them, I will,’ joked Griffiths. ‘No, I’ve taken it all in my stride. A lot has been made of my Twitter name changing after the manager made those comments but it was just banter. What he said has maybe been taken in different context to how he meant it. ‘Has he phoned me? No and he doesn’t need to. Maybe if I get called up next month he’ll have a quiet word in my ear and explain why he said it or the way he meant it to come across. But he has a difficult enough job picking the best Scotland squad and starting XI. ‘Am I frustrated to be on the bench for Scotland? I can’t get a game for Celtic, so what chance have I got?’