Retired Scotland captain Scott Brown: "The personal disappointment of not reaching a major championship finals with my country was heightened this summer but we have a great squad of players and I am certain that we can really make a go of this campaign and qualify for Russia. “I genuinely think we showed in the last campaign that we are good enough to compete with Germany, the world champions, and other nations who qualified ahead of us. I would like to thank the fans who travel across Europe to back us, my team-mates and the backroom staff for their support and look forward to seeing them soon.”  

Image source, SNS

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has praised midfielder Scott Brown, who has retired from international duty, for his efforts through the years.

"Scott is one of the most wholehearted players I’ve encountered and somebody who puts the team ahead of himself," said Strachan.

"He is not the type to play within himself, either, and I understand and respect the decision he has taken.

“I have huge admiration for a player as selfless as he has been: to sacrifice family time and recovery time to help his country.

 “We will miss Scott as a player, no doubt about it, but football evolves and it provides an opportunity for others to step-up take that responsibility. We’ll miss him as a person, too, because his influence and popularity around the squad was integral to all that we did as a group.”  

Image source, SNS

What do you think of Scott Brown's decision?

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Scott Brown, who retires from Scotland duty with 50 caps for his country, has explained his decision.

"I'm not the type of player who can coast half-heartedly through a game - I give 100% every time," the 31-year-old said., external

"Given the importance of this campaign for Scotland, and the challenges ahead at Celtic, I simply felt that I could not keep up both commitments without either my performances or recovery time suffering.

"Gordon [Strachan] understands this completely and I would hope the Scotland supporters understand my position, too. 

"The personal disappointment of not reaching a major championship finals with my country was heightened this summer but we have a great squad of players and I am certain that we can really make a go of this campaign and qualify for Russia."

Image source, SNS

We'll bring you the Scottish football news as it happens throughout the day. Jonathan Sutherland - yep, him from Sportscene - is being allowed out of the office to head to Lennoxtown for Brendan Rodgers' media conference at 10:00 BST. We'll have news too from Brian McLauchlin - him off the telly and the radio - who is at St Johnstone's media do presently. We'll have team news ahead of the weekend games, signing story updates, bits of gossip and some light-hearted Friday relief ahead of our live online and radio coverage of Dundee's Scottish Premiership match against Hamilton Accies this evening.

Rangers manager Mark Warburton feels that by signing players such as Lescott and Joey Barton, the team will benefit from their Premier League experience as they try to counter Celtic's experience in the Champions League, according to The Times. 

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes says Celtic and Rangers are favourites to finish top two in the Premiership but he has urged his players to challenge them. He points out that Rangers' budget in the Championship was three times higher than his at Pittodrie in the top tier. 

Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon feels Rodgers is now getting the best out of players such as Scott Brown and James Forrest after a period of criticism under the previous manager, Ronny Deila.

Hapoel Beer Sheva midfielder Maor Melikson admits his team froze in the "intense" atmosphere at Celtic Park.

Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon tells fans that the Tannadice club have no option but to sell 17-year-old centre-half Harry Souttar in order to strengthen the team. Souttar is on the verge of a six-figure move to Stoke.

Read what else is on the back pages in our round-up here. 

Image source, SNS

Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland

Former Partick Thistle defender Jordan McMillan is targeting a return to playing after being allowed to resume training following a doping ban.

The 27-year-old has denied knowingly taking cocaine, which was found in his system after a game between Thistle and Celtic in December 2014.

His two-year suspension had been set to end in December, but that was reduced by a month after an appeal.

"Now I just want to get back to playing football," he told BBC Scotland.

Read full story

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Aston Villa defender Joleon Lescott will have a medical in Glasgow after being offered a two-year contract by Rangers.

The 34-year-old has been told he can leave the English Championship club.

Asked about his chances of signing a player of Lescott's calibre, Rangers manager Mark Warburton said: "I'm optimistic because we have to keep raising the profile of Rangers.

"Hopefully we are very near a conclusion on one or two targets."

Preston North End say striker Joe Garner is free to join Rangers, with a fee of about £1.5m having been agreed.

Read full story

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Good morning and welcome to our new live text coverage of the latest Scottish football news.

In addition to bringing you the latest news, we'll tell you what our reporters are up to and we also want your views on the burning issues of the day...