Scott Brown admits Gibraltar had Scots ‘spooked’

Gibraltar celebrate their first ever competitive international goal. Picture: John Devlin

“It was hard the way Gibraltar came out,” the Scotland captain said.

“They put three up front which spooked us a little bit – especially when we went up the park and scored a goal and two minutes later it was one each.

“That was hard, but it shows the great attitude the lads have when they can come back and scored five more.”

The skipper then handed out compliments, first of all to manager Gordon Strachan: “We agree with everything he does. The week’s training was outstanding.”

He praised Steven Fletcher, the hat-trick hero: “He’s a great player who’s been unbelievable for us. Strikers live off their goals and now he’s hit the net with three great ones.”

And he also praised Darren Fletcher, an unused sub for the night with Brown winning the contest for the armband that he says is no contest at all.

“Darren and me just sit there and chat away,” said Brown. “It’s you guys who make a big deal of the captaincy. It wasn’t a case of him being the first to wish me well; Darren wishes everyone well and everyone wishes everyone well.

“It’s hard being a sub but you do it for the team who are hopefully going to qualify for the European Championships. There are no big-time Charlies in this group.”

Brown conceded the performance hadn’t been one of the best – “but the team still scored six goals and you can’t really take that away from them”. The three points were what mattered the most and now Scotland could look forward to the vital Republic of Ireland clash in June.

“A lot is going to depend on the head-to-heads in the next few months. It’s going to be very interesting,” he said. “This is a hard group which will go all the way down to the very last games.”