Gordon Strachan names Scotland squad against Poland

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan spoke about Polands danger man when he named his squad at Hampden yesterday. Picture: PA

When considering how best to cope with the threat of Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, Gordon Strachan will bow to the simple wisdom expressed by his former manager at Leeds United, Howard Wilkinson.

What Wilkinson advised – and what the Scotland manager is preparing to drum into his players over the course of next week – is try to keep the ball from the obvious danger man.

This could be easier said that done in the case of Lewandowski, who recently scored five goals in little over 11 minutes for Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg and is due to bring his considerable talents to Hampden Park in a critical Euro 2016 qualifier next Thursday night.

While Strachan very deliberately sought to close down questions on Lewandowski, the Polish striker’s recent deeds loom over the countdown to the fixture. Scotland need to win in order to guarantee that the clash with Gibraltar four days later does not become a depressing dead rubber.

Strachan’s centre-half options are Grant Hanley, Russell Martin, Christophe Berra or Gordon Greer, who ruffled Lewandowski’s feathers in Warsaw last year. The versatile Charlie Mulgrew is another contender but, while included in the squad for the forthcoming double-header, there is still a question mark whether the Celtic player will be fit due to a thigh injury.

Lewandowski accused Greer of nearly kicking him out of the first qualifying clash with Poland, which finished 2-2. Strachan accepts the striker is almost certain to do something of note next week. It is up to Scotland to ensure it is not fatal to their qualifying hopes.

“With most top, top players somewhere along the line they’ll do something in a game and that’s going to happen,” he said yesterday. “But I remember Howard Wilkinson