Gordon Strachan has hailed Darren Fletcher as the poster boy for the new generation of young Scots.

Fletcher is in line to collect his 75th cap tomorrow night as Scotland take on Lithuania at Hampden in their second FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign; if Fletcher plays against Slovakia on Tuesday night he will join Paul McStay be becoming the fourth most capped Scot of all time.

And Strachan has urged the youngsters in his squad such as Kieran Tierney and Oliver Burke to follow in the example of the Scotland skipper.

“There are great examples for kids now if they want to see them, if they can see them through the nonsense that is thrown in front of kids’ faces,” said Strachan. “Darren Fletcher? There is not a tattoo on his body, he doesn’t walk about with big headphones on, he hasn’t got a cockatoo hairstyle and he doesn’t wear outrageous shoes. He just wants to play football.

“He is a smashing advert for any kid. He is great for us because you just need to see him walking about. Shaun Maloney is the same, James McArthur is the same. Young players can look at these guys – fantastic role models.

“He is fantastic for the younger players in our squad. I don’t think there has ever been a negative headline about Darren. He never causes any problems.

“All Darren wants is to be a football player, he doesn’t want to be a celebrity. He isn’t tweeting, he isn’t on Instagram, you don’t see his face in silly positions every now and then and I hope they all stay the same. You have examples out there. You can either go that one or that one, it is up to you as a young footballer.”

There were doubts at one point about whether or not Fletcher would be force to call time on the game prematurely when he was ill with ulcerative colitis, a debilitating condition that disrupted his career for the best part of three years.

When he made his first tentative steps back into football there were Scotland squads he reported for but was never stripped when the games came round, dedication that has not been lost on the Scotland boss.

“You can never write players off but I did know that there were going to be good challenge for him, but he has accepted those challenges,” said Strachan. “These are the challenges that you get in life which make you stronger and then when you go into management you have been to these places and you can tell people what it is all about.

“You have these crisis points in your career – and he has had a few – then you deal with them. And what you see now is a guy sitting in front if you getting his 75th cap and looking as healthy as anyone and I don’t think he has missed a game for West Brom since he signed.”

Asked whether Fletcher could be considered one of the all-time greats for Scotland, Strachan was keen to emphasise the esteem in which he is held in the Hampden dressing room.

“I will leave that to other people to decide but I am just glad he is here,” he said. “He is a great player but he is a great lad and that is the most important thing. If I was a footballer I would want my team-mates to speak highly of me more than anything else and if you asked his team-mates then I think they would tell you he is an all-time great, yeah.”