Michael Stewart has attacked Gordon Strachan’s decision to make Leigh Griffiths Scotland’s third choice striker.
Chris Martin and Steven Fletcher were handed starting roles against Lithuania and Slovakia as Scotland’s hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup Finals nose-dived.
Griffiths and Strachan seem to be uncomfortable together with a third Edinburgh native, Stewart, at a loss over the way that the Celtic striker is treated by Scotland.
“All managers live and die by their decisions and in the case of Leigh Griffiths, he’s making a decision that 99 per cent of people who are interested in Scotland don’t understand,” Stewart claimed in The Sun.
“I’d argue the case that Griffiths can score all kinds of goals — poacher’s goals, headers, even from outside the box.
“He stretches opponents and I thought it was utter madness not to start him in the two games. The criticism I always hear is around his link-up play but that’s a fallacy as far as I’m concerned. It’s nowhere near as bad as some people make out.”
In three qualifying matches Scotland have taken four points in what is viewed as one of the softest qualifying groups.
Scotland face England twice before the end of the season with the focus firmly on Strachan to deliver the points to keep alive hopes of reaching Russia.
With his famed stubbornness Strachan is unlikely to turn to Griffiths to lead the line next month at Wembley in a match in which every decision taken by the manager will be under scrutiny.
