Chris Martin went from zero to hero in record time thanks to his winning goal against Slovenia that kept Scotland’s World Cup dream alive.
The Derby County striker was booed by some of the Tartan Army when he came on a substitute with eight minutes to go in the last Group F qualifier at Hampden back in March.
With the match goalless at that point, not only did it look to be game over for the Scots as far as qualification for Russia was concerned it also appeared to be the end of manager Gordon Strachan’s time in charge.
Martin, however, stuck two fingers up to the boo boys and saved the day by scoring with just a couple of minutes left on the clock to secure an absolutely crucial 1-0 victory.
It was a result that gives those same supporters hope that all is not lost going into Saturday’s massive match against England back at the National Stadium.
He may or not be the poster boy for the Tartan Army this weekend but Martin has his own personal goals for this one, the greatest of which is to give his father Gerry a 60th birthday to remember.
Martin said: “A late winner wouldn’t be bad this time because it is my dad Gerry’s birthday on Saturday.
“I will be buzzing if can play any kind of part and recreate what happened the last time.
“That goal wasn’t about me, though, it was about the result for the country.
“Obviously my dad was delighted, as were the rest of my family.
“There were about 15 of them there last time and there will be a fair few at Hampden this time as well.
“My dad moved to England when he was maybe 20 or 21 but he is from Glasgow and he is the reason I am here.
“He has been a big part of this Scottish bandwagon and the family are all up here.
“Hopefully, I can score the winner for them.
“My dad was always strong on our Scottish heritage so I never had the choice. You don’t mess with your dad.
“We have never been allowed to forget where we are from.
“Sometimes the people who live away from home are the most passionate.”
Reflecting on that goal against Slovenia, which was created for him by some brilliant play from in-form Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong, Martin said: “I am still on a high from it now.
“The memories are still fresh.
“It was pretty special as it got us back on track.
“As much as we tried to play it down at the time, it was a vital win for us.
“I was really happy with it and hopefully we can take the confidence from that game into Saturday.”
Needless to say, Martin has been given an apology for being jeered on to the pitch, no?
“I’ve not had too many Scotland fans saying sorry,” he revealed.
“They don’t need to apologise to me.
“They can voice their opinion all they like.
“Hopefully, I can change their minds if they don’t have a high opinion (of me) in the first place.
“I am a professional and my job is to get out on the pitch and get the winner.
“I was lucky enough for that to happen.
“Also, the manager has backed me from the start. I’ve been involved in just about every squad so it was nice to repay some of that faith.
“It was a big one for us and everyone was buzzing going back in to the changing room. Everyone was congratulating me but it was a good performance from everyone.
“Before I even got on the pitch I felt we should have been two or three up so I think we got our just rewards for our performance on the night.”
Martin agreed that England will be tougher opponents than the Slovenians but he is still upbeat about Scotland’s chances.
He added: “We are quietly confident.
“We produced a performance under pressure last time and hopefully we can take that into the game against England.
“Who knows about the gap – we will find out after the final whistle on Saturday if there is one.
“We do know they have a fantastic squad. They have massive players who play for big clubs who win trophies.
“We know we are up against a top team but there is no reason we can’t cause them problems of our own.
“We have good players in this squad and are going into it to win.”
