Kezia Dugdale has dismissed as "absolute nonsense" claims that Labour is targeting just three seats in Scotland in the forthcoming General Election.

With support for the party on the slide in its former heartland, there had been speculation Labour would focus its efforts on winning Edinburgh South, which returned Ian Murray as Scotland's sole Labour MP in 2015, East Renfrewshire and East Lothian.

When asked about the claims, Ms Dugdale insisted: "It's an absolute nonsense."

The Scottish Labour leader, who was campaigning in Easterhouse in the east end of Glasgow, added: "We're selecting candidates in all seats across the country.

"I'm immensely proud of the candidates we've selected, they represent a new generation of Labour candidates, many of them are standing for the first time."

A YouGov poll for The Times in Scotland put support for Labour at 18% - 10 percentage points lower than the Conservatives and well behind the SNP, who were on 41%.

Projections based on the figures suggested the Tories could win eight seats north of the border on June 8 while Labour were forecast to return only one MP again, holding Edinburgh South.

The same poll also showed 51% of people against a second independence referendum.

Ms Dugdale said that "first and foremost" her party was opposed to a fresh ballot on Scotland's place in the UK.

"Independence would mean £15 billion of additional cuts to Scotland and that would it hardest here in the east end of Glasgow," she said.

"Yet again we've seen a poll which shows support for independence falling and opposition to a second independence referendum is high.

"That means the people who voted both Yes and No want to leave these arguments of the past behind us and focus on the future - focus on how we can invest in public services and how we can invest in communities.

"The Labour Party has always been very clear we're opposed to independence and opposed to a second independence referendum.

"We'll do our damnedest to talk about education, to talk about the quality of our schools, about how to make sure are elderly people can stay healthy and well in their own homes for as long as possible.

"But the constitutional question isn't going away and on that debate Labour stands firmly against a second independence referendum."

She also insisted the election campaign should be a battle of ideas and policies "rather than who has the best insults to throw back and forth".

Ms Dugdale stressed: "In a six-week campaign that's going to decide the future of our country, I think it's duty-bound on all of us to talk about the issues that we hear on the doorsteps every day."

Blair McDougall, a key figure in the Better Together campaign to keep Scotland in the UK in 2014, has been selected by Labour to fight the East Renfrewshire constituency.

The seat is currently held by the SNP's Kirsten Oswald after she ousted former Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy in 2015 but Mr McDougall has already declared: "I brought together the anti-independence majority in 2014 and I'm going to do the same on June 8."

Ms Dugdale said: "You'll hear all our candidates like Blair talking about Labour values, talking about the fact that there are 5.4 million people across the United Kingdom who earn less than the living wage."