Scott Brown is hoping that Gordon Strachan keeps the nucleus of Celtic players together at international level.

For the first time since 1967, Scotland started with more than four Celtic players in the first XI, with six Parkhead regulars lining up at Hampden on Sunday evening.

And Brown believes that the Hoops spine throughout the team can inspire the national side as they seek to land what still looks like an unlikely play-off spot.

“Here is hoping we can keep that together,” said Brown. “It is a great squad and we have a good team spirit among the whole squad and it is good to have played who know one another so well.

“There was a lot of the Celtic lads in the team and I think that probably helped Stuart [Armstrong]. The way we played was similar to the way that we play every week and I think he felt quite at home.”

Armstrong’s debut was described by Strachan as the best he had ever seen for Scotland, and Brown was fulsome in his praise of his fellow Celtic midfielder.

“Stuart was fantastic,” he said. “It is not easy to walk into international football and play the way you are at club level but that is exactly what he maned to do.

“At the start of this season he was in and out of the team but he has been a revelation over the last five or six months or so. It was brilliant for him to get man of the match and he will kick on from here, I am sure.”

Kieran Tierney, too, won the praise of his captain after an evening in which he deputised on the right side of defence as opposed to his customary left position.

The teenager was comfortable throughout the game with his application and willingness to work not lost on Brown.

“Kieran is forever telling us that his right foot is only for standing on but I think we all saw his qualities at Hampden on Sunday night,” he said. “His defensive attributes, his ability to get forward, his pace and his determination were all there and he was his usual self for us.

“But the whole team played well. We were the better team overall. We created a lot of chances, especially in the first half, and the whole tempo of our play was fantastic. It showed just how hard we had been working in the build-up to the game and I think we all feel pleased for the manager.”