GORDON STRACHAN today revealed he is still hurting from the loss to England in Scotland's final international of 2014.

And even though tonight's game against Northern Ireland is a friendly arranged to ensure his players are back at their peak for Sunday's Euro qualifier against Gibraltar, the national team boss has left his players in no doubt he wants a win.

The momentum which has built up since Strachan took over the job in January 2013 took a jolt with the defeat to the Auld Enemy at Celtic Park in November.

It came just four days after the Scots had grabbed a vital win over the Republic of Ireland to keep them very much in the hunt for a place at next summer's finals in France.

Strachan does not want back-to-back defeats - even if they are four months apart.

Which is why he is still mulling over the starting eleven he will use when international football returns to Hampden Park this evening.

The Scots boss said: "Now it's always about results for me. Results cover everything. That's what makes us feel better about ourselves.

"Then we can analyse how we have gone wrong, if we have. There is nothing worse than having to analyse where you went wrong if you lost the game."

That was the case after the 3-1 defeat to England, and Strachan believes serious lessons were learned from that disappointment.

"England totally surprised us with their intensity that night," he explained. "We had watched them the previous weekend, when they beat Slovakia 3-1, and they had no intensity in their play that day.

"We had had an incredible intensity in our match against the Republic of Ireland. We thought that would automatically come for us again when we faced England, and we would put them under pressure.

"But they turned the tables on us - and it spooked us. It was a fantastic lesson for us, and you stick that away in the locker.

"But it was really annoying, and I was raging at the time because we could have gone an entire year with only terrific performances. And it would be have been great to take that away with us into the winter months."

In fact, from November to November, it was the only time Scotland failed to win at home, and they suffered just one defeat, away to Germany.

Fortunately, Strachan has not detected any lasting hangover from that defeat to Wayne Rooney and Co, and believes his players are ready to get back on the winning track.

He said: "We sent them away in November a bit down, but they have come back all right. You never know how it is going to go when you have a four-month break from one another.

"It's not like at a club where you can all come back in the next day, sort it out and go again. It's been like hitting a reset button, and I am happy with the way they are all training ahead of these games."

Strachan spent Monday working on ideas they have for Sunday's game against group minnows, Gibraltar.

But the focus since then has been fully on how they are going to win tonight's meeting with Northern Ireland.

James Forrest - so often an injury absentee when Strachan has been eager to involve him - is expected to play a key role in these games.

The Scotland boss has held lengthy discussions with Celtic manager, Ronny Deila, while the medical staffs of the SFA and the Hoops have also consulted over what is best for the 23-year-old.

Most importantly, Strachan has been delighted by the winger's willingness to volunteer his services, and said: "Everything will be down to James. He has been asked, 'What do you want to do over this week?'

"Yesterday morning we were wondering if he needed a little rest after what was intense training on Monday.

"It was not going to be any less intense yesterday, but he said, 'No, I'll be out there with the rest of the boys.'

"That's exactly the attitude we want from him and, hopefully, he can help us get the results we want over the next few days."