Scotland - Strachan Wants More Steel

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan was today trying to piece together the lessons his side must learn from the disappointment of their 3-2 defeat against England at Wembley.

Strachan wants his team to show more steel and concentration after throwing away a 2-1 lead and squandering the opportunity to record a result which would have had fans buzzing for years. 

Scotland twice led through goals from James Morrison and Kenny Miller, with Theo Walcott levelling in between, but second-half goals from Manchester United's Danny Welbeck and Southampton's Rickie Lambert saw Roy Hodgson's side emerge victorious in the match to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Football Association. 

Strachan said: ``I feel huge disappointment for everybody. It could have been a result you'd be talking about in 40 years' time. ``There are things I liked but our concentration went at times. That was the defining thing. It wasn't work rate, it was concentration that cost us. ``I discount the last 20 minutes when we were trying everything, throwing everything left, right and centre, it got a bit disorganised then. ``We were trying to protect a few players because I didn't want to send them back to their clubs with groin strains or hamstring strains. When we lost a couple of our more experienced players the game went away from us.'' 

Strachan put England's second-half goals, both headers, one from a free-kick and the other from a corner, down to defensive lapses, but also praised the resolve and technique of Hodgson's side. 

Strachan, however, can take solace from the impressive work of his developing squad, despite his side being unable to qualify for the World Cup. ``When it went to 2-1 I genuinely thought we were going to win the game,'' said Strachan. ``I will feel better hopefully in a day or two but at the moment I'm not enjoying the experience. ``I forgot this was a friendly. It doesn't feel like that now. It's a long time since I've felt as bad as this.''