Scottish Gossip: Scotland, Gordon Strachan, Hearts, Aberdeen, Celtic

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

England will beat Slovakia at Wembley on Monday and help to keep Scotland's World Cup qualification bid on track, according to Scotland boss Gordon Strachan, who says: "England need to do themselves a favour because if they don't do well and get beat, Slovakia go top." (Sunday Mail)

"When you're England you have no option but to win games," adds Strachan, who thinks the Scotland fans are now beginning to believe that they can qualify for the finals in Russia. (Sunday Express)

Former Rangers caretaker manager Graeme Murty reveals that instead of having a post-match glass of wine with Brendan Rodgers, after Clint Hill had earned the Light Blues a point at Celtic Park with a late goal, he and the Celtic manager ate a pie and chatted about the match. "It was a good ending to a fantastic day," recalls Murty, who was in charge of Rangers for six matches following Mark Warburton's departure. (Sun on Sunday)

Midfielder Ian Black moved to Shrewsbury Town after leaving Rangers in 2015 and then joined Blackpool in February this year on a short-term deal

Hearts manager Craig Levein insists he never interfered with the work of head coaches Robbie Neilson and Ian Cathro when he was the Tynecastle club's director of football. "I didn't interfere but people don't believe that. I actually got a lot of pleasure from watching Robbie fix stuff and Ian fixed things at times too," says the former Hearts and Scotland defender. (Sunday Mail)

Aberdeen's 20-year-old winger Scott Wright is determined to take his chance in the first team after spending time on the sidelines watching Jonny Hayes and Niall McGinn establish the Dons as the "best of the rest" in Scotland. (Sun on Sunday)

Celtic winger Patrick Roberts hopes the exposure of playing in the Champions League can help him win an England call-up from Gareth Southgate. (Sun on Sunday)

Roberts predicts that his Celtic team-mate Kieran Tierney will become a "superstar" but says he is no rush to leave the Glasgow club. (Sunday Herald)

Scotland women's national team manager Shelley Kerr may have been appointed as Anna Signeul's successor in April but she will only get to work at close quarters with the squad when they travel to play Hungary in Budapest in a fortnight's time. (Sunday Herald)

"I have loads of years left, and outside of the English Premier League, I could do a job at any level in Britain," claims former Hearts and Rangers midfielder Ian Black. The 32-year-old was released by Blackpool after helping them win promotion to League One at Wembley last season. (Scotsman)

OTHER GOSSIP

Greig Laidlaw, capped 58 times for Scotland, will make his debut for French champions Clermont in the Top 14 against the mighty Toulon

Former world boxing champion Alex Arthur warns that the robbers who targeted his Edinburgh home would have been better "facing a couple of Rottweilers" than him - had he caught them trying to gain entry. (Sunday Mail)

Scot Frank Dick, British athletes' team boss for 15 years in the Seb Coe and Steve Ovett era, tells the new chairman of British Athletics Richard Bowker that current crop of athletes need to "toughen up". Speaking of the World Championships that were held in London this year, he asks: "Is six medals out of 144 on offer in London this summer - and not the ones we aimed for - a success?" (Mail on Sunday)

World men's tennis number two Andy Murray is expected to reveal plans to combat his hip problem by the end of this week, in what increasingly looks like the biggest decision of his career. (Mail on Sunday)

Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw will make his debut for Clermont Auvergne on Sunday afternoon against the three-time European Cup winners Toulon at Stade Marcel Michelin, which will be packed with 26,000 fans. (Scotsman)