Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Opinion: Gordon Strachan had no choice but to take Scott Brown back

Soon to be reunited - Scott Brown and Gordon Strachan.
Soon to be reunited - Scott Brown and Gordon Strachan.

Gordon Strachan’s acceptance of Scott Brown’s offer to make his international retirement a short one (can it really be called a comeback after two months?) was a no-brainer for the national coach.

There could be long-term implications. Will Brown be sticking around after Wembley? How will the players who didn’t call it a day before the World Cup qualifiers began react to his return? What will Brendan Rodgers make of it?

But for Strachan, none of that matters.

There is likely to be no tomorrow if his team is beaten by England in a couple of weeks.

If you needed confirmation that it is win or bust for Strachan in London, this is it.

Lose, and he’ll be out of a job, so there really wasn’t a decision to be made.

Darren Fletcher and James McArthur are solid Premier League players but Scotland’s central midfield against Lithuania and Slovakia was less effective on both occasions for Brown’s absence.

The chances of Scotland winning at Wembley are still slim but they’re better than they appeared a couple of days ago.

Mind you, with the way things are going for Strachan just now, Brown will probably get injured at Pittodrie.