Neil McCann backs Leigh Griffiths to lead the line for Scotland

Neil McCann is sure Leigh Griffiths will cause England problems if he plays at Wembley - and the former Scotland winger feels there is everything to play for in the World Cup qualifying section.

Manager Gordon Strachan's future came under scrutiny after Scotland collected one point from their double-header against Lithuania and Slovakia last month but McCann claims top spot is not out of the question for his country.

And the 42-year-old, who played in Scotland's last win at Wembley in 1999, feels Griffiths could be the man to reignite Scotland's campaign on Friday.

"Gordon has a big decision to go with up front and the way the group is going with England slipping up might change his thought process,'' said McCann, who was helping launch the North Lanarkshire Sporting Hall of Fame.

"I think (topping the group) could still be done. England are without doubt the strongest team in the group but they are stuttering a little bit, so that might change his thinking about who plays up front.

"I still think Leigh Griffiths has a lot to offer but that's a decision Gordon will have to make."

The Celtic striker was brought off the bench with Scotland trailing in both of last month's disappointing qualifiers, and his movement earned him chances in each.

Griffiths only played 15 minutes in Scotland's failed Euro 2016 campaign but, having struck 40 goals for Celtic last season, his threat in front of goal gives Strachan an option beyond his preferred choice of playing a target man, especially with Steven Fletcher picking up a knee knock.

McCann, who seized his chance at Wembley in only his fifth Scotland appearance, said: "If Leigh Griffiths is given the number nine jersey, then I wouldn't have any fears in what he can achieve.

"He has led the line for Celtic in Europe, he has had to take a watching brief while (Moussa) Dembele smashes the goals in and unfortunately that's just the predicament he finds himself in.

"He started at the weekend and got another goal. If Leigh Griffiths takes the number nine jersey, he can give England lots of problems.

"He provides a different threat to what Fletcher does and what Chris Martin does. He goes down the sides of people, he is really sharp, he sniffs chances out, I think he has got a more natural goalscoring approach to his game then the other two.

"But what the other two bring is a physical aspect which maybe Griff can't offer and Gordon has already touched on that, I know there has been a lot made of the size thing. That might just be an approach Gordon wants to take.

"If Griff gets the nod, I have no fears that he will give England problems. He might come up with a special goal. I hope he does if he does manage to find himself in the starting line-up."

McCann has "bitter-sweet" memories of a 1-0 win over an England team featuring the likes of David Beckham, Paul Ince, Paul Scholes, Alan Shearer and Michael Owen as Scotland lost their Euro 2000 play-off on aggregate. The then Rangers winger set up the only goal for Don Hutchison after being brought into the team following a 2-0 defeat at Hampden.

"When you look at their team on paper it was pretty impressive, as it will be in this game," he said. "There's a lot of similarities. We played to our capabilities in terms of winning the game, although it wasn't enough.

"If the boys give as much as they can give, do their jobs right and fully concentrate, there is no reason why we couldn't get a result."