Celtic invincibles can turn it on for Scotland, says Gordon Strachan

Six stars of Brendan Rodgers' invincible Celtic side were named in Strachan's group to go up against England at Hampden on June 10.

Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong, James Forrest, Leigh Griffiths and captain Scott Brown all lined up in the 1-0 win over Slovenia in march and they are set to do likewise in just under two weeks' time.

Read more: Kieran Tierney: Playing for Celtic means more to me than earning big money down south

Celtic's season is close to coming to an end with the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen next week the final furlong for Rodgers' men. However, Scotland boss Strachan is confident there won't be a dip in energy, concentration or passion from the Parkhead contingent who are chosen to face England in the crunch World Cup qualifier.

He said: “There was a concern that there might be a dip after the Celtic players won the league, but there wasn’t a dip there.

"They have got that mentality it seems. They say: ‘I’m enjoying this, I must keep this going, wherever I play I must win’. There are so many clubs who win things early then drop away. We have seen that many times.

"My son’s team, Doncaster, won the league with five to go and then had two draws and three defeats after that. It is very hard to keep your team going. But they have kept it going, the whole Celtic gang.

"We saw how they played here against Slovenia and we’re hoping they can keep that going. They’re on this run where they think they are invincible which is fantastic. They are enjoying every game. Ask any of them if they’re tired just now.

"Tiredness only seems to creep in when you are getting beaten.”

One of the major decisions for Strachan going into this game is who to play up front.

Griffiths started against Slovenia only to go off early in the second half with a back injury but is now back in form and scoring, Steven Fletcher is doing the same for Sheffield Wednesday and Chris Martin, who got the winner two months ago, has found game time hard to come by at Fulham.

Read more: Kieran Tierney: Playing for Celtic means more to me than earning big money down south

Speaking about Griffiths and his chances, Strachan said: “He might be getting more games, but he didn’t have much football before we played Slovenia and I thought he was terrific.

"I thought his 45 minutes was absolutely terrific for somebody that’s not played. You can see that he’s kept himself sharp, hungry, wanting to play and wanting to prove himself.

"I think that was a case of, while he was playing for us and wanting to do well, he was wanting to say to his manager ‘look at me, I’m still playing well in the international game’.

"You can use international games for anything you want. I’m sure that wasn’t his thought. I’m sure it was just to win.”

While Kenny McLean, Jamie Murphy and Mark Reynolds were all surprise inclusions, there was no place for Callum McGregor to make it a magnificent seven for Celtic.

“These midfielders are really unfortunate," said the Scotland boss. "If you go and watch Kevin McDonald playing for Fulham he does alright as well. There are a couple of midfield players who you see and think: ‘Oh, that’s a shame’.

Read more: Kieran Tierney: Playing for Celtic means more to me than earning big money down south

"But we are strong in there, we really are strong in there. Again, I wouldn’t want to bring along people who I didn’t think had a chance of playing.”

Looking to the game itself against the runaway Group F leaders, Strachan added: “They will be fine. There is an excitement factor about this game.

“Some games when you play in the summer don’t have the thrill factor. The thrill factor is here.

“We know what we are going to get from the players. They are a group I trust absolutely. When you play in big games you have to play players you could trust.

“It’s starting to get exciting."