Scotland: Scott Brown wants Gordon Strachan to stay manager

Scott Brown was stunned by Thursday's draw

Captain Scott Brown wants Gordon Strachan to stay on as Scotland manager despite the midfielder feeling "devastated" by Euro 2016 failure.

The Scots cannot qualify from Group D following Thursday's 2-2 draw at home to Poland.

"Of course, he is a great manager," said the Celtic player when asked about Strachan's future.

"He's been huge for me at club level and huge for me at international level as well."

Scotland will finish fourth in the group even if they secure another three points when they face Gibraltar in Portugal on Sunday.

Strachan has won 11 of his 24 internationals in charge of Scotland - one more (and one less defeat) than much-criticised predecessor Craig Levein.

The present manager said on Saturday he would not announce his intentions immediately after the game in Faro as "there's two or three people I need to speak to" first.

"Since Gordon has taken over, we have got better and stronger and it has shown in a proper football team out on the park who are fighting and battling for each other and who can play good attractive football," said Brown.

"But that is down to Gordon at the end of the day. There is a game to play first."

Gordon Strachan has been Scott Brown's manager with Celtic and Scotland

Brown stressed that the Scots would be determined to end the present campaign on a positive note despite it being a dead rubber against the group minnows.

"I have had a lot of downs in my career and it is how you bounce back - and you have to bounce back stronger for the next campaign," he said, speaking at the Estadio Algarve. "We need to finish on a high."

Scotland miss out on the finals in France despite an increase in the number of teams being able to qualify.

If they are to reach the 2018 World Cup finals, the Scots will have to overcome England, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta.

"I was devastated because it was a huge chance for us and it was another Euros that we didn't get to,".

"And it is getting harder and harder, especially when you are getting older.

"We are getting closer, but we need to try to get over the line and it's going to be hard in the upcoming World Cup campaign as well, but we are looking forward to it."

The general consensus is that a 1-0 defeat away to fifth-placed Georgia was a crucial blow to Scotland's chances.

"The campaign has had its highs and lows," said Brown. "The low was Georgia away, but there have been some great performances as well.

"Maybe we did not have the luck."