Arrests made in racist abuse probe

“Hopefully it does give us something to build on now.

“Going into the game, we wanted to win and win convincingly.

“The clean sheet, six goals and the win means we are happy.

“That’s all we could Bulgarian authorities have identified 15 people and made six arrests so far in relation to the racist abuse of England players on Monday night.

England’s black players were targeted throughout the match in Sofia, and the Bulgarian Football Union has been charged by Uefa over the racist behaviour of its fans.

Commissioner of the Bulgarian ministry of the interior Georgi Hadzhiev confirmed the operation was still ongoing, but that action was being taken against those found to have been involved.

In a statement yesterday, the ministry confirmed “15 participants were identified in the unlawful event”, with some of the evidence collected using facial recognition software.

The ministry statement said: “Six of them have been detained and three are wanted. Two have been summoned and are expected to report to the police to testify. Work is under way to gather evidence for the other six. The materials will be reported to the Sofia district prosecutor’s office.”

Hadzhiev added his condemnation of the culprits, saying: “We do not tolerate such behaviour. All violators of the public order will be summoned (by the authorities).”

A spokeswoman also confirmed that special forces from the ministry’s general directorate for combating organised crime had raided the BFU offices on Tuesday.

The BFU’s president, former national team goalkeeper Borislav Mihaylov, announced his resignation in the wake of Monday night’s racist chanting.

Under the Uefa regulations, the BFU could face a full ground closure for their next competitive home match and a fine of 50,000 euros.

Ryan Christie hopes Scotland have given themselves a platform on which to build momentum when they return to international action next month. The Scots bring their Euro 2020 qualifying group to a close with their November double header against Cyprus and Kazakhstan, with Steve Clarke’s men unable to automatically clinch a place in next summer’s finals. Sunday’s 6-0 triumph over San Marino returned Scotland to winning ways following a four-match losing sequence in which they were defeated twice each by Belgium and Russia. Celtic’s Christie was again a standout player against San Marino and he now hopes the Dark Blues can step up their preparations for the play-offs in March when they join up again next month. Christie said: “It was good to get back to winning ways after the Russia defeat. IT’S RAINING GOALS: Ryan Christie is flanked by Stuart Armstrong and Johnny Russell after Armstrong’s goal against San Marino really have done against San Marino and hopefully we can build on it. “OK, it was a lowerranked team but you can only beat what is in front of you. “It was a good performance and hopefully we can kick on from it next month.” Following the international break, the return of Christie’s focus on club matters will be delayed by a two-match suspension he has been handed for his red card in Celtic’s 2-0 loss to Livingston earlier this month. Former Inverness player Christie will sit out this weekend’s home match against Ross County. He added: “It’s especially frustrating that it’s Ross County, which is an old rival for me. “I had half of Inverness coming down for the game but now I’m not even playing in it. “I’ve got all the belief the boys can get back to winning ways.”