There is a bit of truth in what Gordon Strachan said yesterday about the European Championships but at the same time he is also damning himself with the comments.

It is fair to say that Scotland did hold their own against the likes of the Republic of Ireland, Poland and Croatia – but at the same time they are all there in France and we are not.

In many respects I suspect the comments are born out of frustration. He is there and watching games and I am sure there is a part of him lamenting the fact that Scotland are not.

You look at Iceland and Hungary and Northern Ireland and Wales and you do think to yourselves ‘what have they got that we haven’t?’. There is frustration on all parts.

I also suspect that qualifying for the World Cup in 2018 will still be very difficult too. Not impossible, but certainly really tough.

You look at England and this tournament and you might think that they haven’t set the heather alight, but I would be wary of judging a team on the back of initial performances in any big competition.

There is always a caginess in the opening rounds and let’s face it – of the four forwards that England have at their disposal, we would welcome any one of them with open arms.

Slovakia are also in our group for the qualifiers and I have to say that being at a major tournament and the experience you gain from it enhances you enormously as a team.

From our own perspective, it comes down to playing well at Hampden, which they have done of late to some extent.

But it is the slip-ups against the likes of Georgia that have hindered us and if we want to make progress and get to these tournaments then these are the games where we need to be coming away with all three points.

It was that game in Georgia that cost us so dearly in terms of qualifying for France this summer. We are in an extremely difficult group for the World Cup qualifiers but although it will be very difficult, nothing is impossible.