Strachan Feels Scotland Buzz

STRACHAN FEELS SCOTLAND BUZZ Scotland manager Gordon Strachan insists his players are not suffering from an end-of-season hangover and says he has been struck by their hunger and enthusiasm ahead of Wednesday night's friendly against Nigeria. Scotland face the Super Eagles at Craven Cottage in the team's final scheduled fixture before they kick off their European Championship qualification campaign against Germany on September 7. Unbeaten in five matches, optimism is growing amongst the Tartan Army and Strachan says his players are showing no signs of letting up. "We worked yesterday in the pouring rain and I enjoyed myself - people say it's a lot to do with the coach's enthusiasm but it works both ways," Strachan said. "The enthusiasm you get from the players keeps your battery going as a coach and I like working with them." He added: "The lads are full of enthusiasm, which is great, and it's easy tO coach when the players are like that. "The enthusiasm rubs off on me, it's great and I enjoy it." Over the past year Scotland have beaten Croatia twice and also recorded victories over Poland, Norway and Macedonia. Strachan says he is trying to improve his team's attacking fluency but insists there has been no magic formula to his team's upturn in results. "It's not that complicated, football," he said. "You get the ball, you try to score. You haven't got the ball, you don't let them score - it's not that complicated. "People try to convince you it's super-complicated and they can make miracles happen - it's all about players." Strachan continued: "We just have to keep trying to do the things we've been doing. We want to try to be more positive, to get more people in the box. "That's what we've been working on over the last couple of days, we want to make sure the main striker isn't isolated. "We've also done our usual training but we're trying our best to get as many players forward and around the box as possible." Aberdeen pair Mark Reynolds and Peter Pawlett have both been called up for the first time while Derby trio Craig Bryson, Chris Martin and Craig Forsyth arrived on Tuesday following their Championship play-off final defeat to QPR. "It will take a wee while for them to get over that," Strachan said. "But the best way to get over it is to play football. That Championship play-off final now is probably one of the most pressurised games in football. "It can be the best day of your life or the worst day of your life but we've seen clubs in the Championship who have got close to promotion bounce back the year after. "We keep our fingers crossed that Derby will do the same because I thought they were a terrific side this year."