Saturday 15 November 2014 18:28, UK
Scotland boss Gordon Strachan was a proud man after seeing his side overcome Republic of Ireland 1-0 in their Euro 2016 qualifier.
Strachan singled out coach Stuart McCall for special praise claiming it was his short corner idea from which Shaun Maloney scored the winning goal.
The win moves Scotland level on points with the Republic in Group D and Strachan was delighted with how his players went about the victory.
"I am a proud man tonight," Strachan told Sky Sports. "That was an epic duel. We knew what was going to happen and we dealt with that. It was hard, we kept trying to play and from a Stuart McCall corner kick we scored a goal!
"Stuart had the idea. It was a variation on what we were going to try and it worked, you need to be a great player to score a goal like that.
"Ireland were a handful all night, it was like a British cup tie. This is the hardest group of them all and one goal decides every game."
Strachan was happy to single out Charlie Mulgrew for special praise, claiming the Celtic man was pivotal to his side's victory.
"Charlie was absolutely immense," he said. "Normally, you would come in and say what a game Scott Brown had, but Charlie's actually taken the mantle tonight and ably backed up by the people round about him. He was the best man on the pitch.
"I have to say that our smaller guys, considering the height and power they were playing against, were very brave. There wasn't much football as such, but any chance they had to do that they did. They were brave on and off the ball, the three behind the main strikers."
The result means Scotland and Germany move level with Ireland on seven points after four games, with Poland three points clear in Group D afer their 4-0 win in Georgia.
Republic boss Martin O'Neill said: "I didn't think Scotland created a great deal in the game. Of course the onus is on them to attack as the home side. I always felt we were in the game. I thought when the goal came, it was a moment when we were under a little bit of pressure but not unduly.
"We're disappointed with the result but we're not out of this. We have seven points on the board. Scotland still have to travel to us and we've got four out of the next five games at our place. As I said before, regardless of this result, everything will depend on 2015."
