THERE was no outcry on social media when Barry Bannan was continually overlooked by Scotland, nobody called a radio phone-in to rant about Chris Martin not getting selected up front and there was certainly no clamour for Ikechi Anya to be brought back in.

Yet, Gordon Strachan’s decision to put his faith in all three men ahead of the likes of John McGinn and Callum McGregor - in the face of widespread criticism of him among both football supporters and the media in this country in recent weeks and even calls for him to be replaced in some quarters - was vindicated and then some on Thursday evening.

All three men, who ply their trade in the second tier of English football out of sight of the majority of members of the Tartan Army, performed pivotal roles in the vital Russia 2018 qualifying victory over Slovakia at Hampden.

It is highly doubtful Scotland would still have a chance of reaching their first World Cup, their first tournament finals even, since France ’98 some 19 years ago had it not been for that unheralded trio’s collective contribution in the penultimate Group F game.

Bannan put in a bright display in central midfield in the absence of the injured Scott Brown, Martin completely transformed proceedings after coming on for James Forrest after an hour and Anya delivered the pass which Martin Skrtel turned into his own net with less than two minutes of regulation remaining shortly after taking to the field as a late replacement for Kieran Tierney.

Strachan was by no means smug yesterday in the aftermath of an exhilarating 1-0 triumph which keeps alive his side’s hopes of securing a play-off spot despite a performance and result which justified both his team selection and substitutions emphatically.

The 60-year-old can certainly, as his refusal to select Leigh Griffiths when the Celtic striker was in a rich vein of form for the Parkhead club at the start of this campaign showed, be stubborn and the accusation that he is dismissive of the Scottish club game is not without some substance.

But he has been rewarded handsomely on this occasion for having the courage of his convictions.

“I understand that every manager wants players from their club to play,” he said. “I’ve got that. I understand that every supporter wants their boys to play. I’ve got that as well. I’ve not got a problem with that.

“But what they don’t all do is the research that I do. I go round every game my players play, I see everything. Again, even when we met up, I looked at players playing for their clubs in the last two weeks. I looked at it and said: ‘Okay, pick from there’. “I am quite loyal to players. But the loyalty is not blind.

“It couldn’t have been easy for Barry. He must get that media thing where everybody is clamouring for other players when he turns up. But I think that’s always going to happen. You want your local guys to get picked first.

“When the game starts do we think Kech is going to go flying down the wing and put in for Chris Martin? I don’t think many of us had that happening. Maybe Griff doing that or someone else doing it. That’s the beauty of it.

“You never know how you are going to win. I said that to the players. You have a system which stops teams playing against you hopefully. But then we give them the freedom of their imagination to go score goals on their own.”

Strachan, whose side must overcome Slovenia in the Skovice Stadium in Ljubljana tomorrow evening to make sure of finishing second in their section and securing one of the play-off spots available to the eight best-placed runners-up in the nine UEFA qualifying groups, actually feels the championing of McGinn and McGregor helped Anya, Bannan and Martin to perform at their best.

“There is actually more pressure on the Anglos to play better,” he said. “Even back in my day that was true. Because what happens with an Anglo is that, if he plays badly, he disappears for two months, you don’t see him.

“A home Scot can play badly, score two goals the next Saturday and everything is good again. If you don’t play well it lingers for two or three months. A home Scot can score two goals against Hamilton on a Friday night and be a world star again.”

Strachan was particularly pleased that Martin, who was booed by Scotland supporters when he came on against Slovenia back in March before scoring a late winning goal which has proved to be the catalyst for a remarkable revival, had enjoyed such an impressive match.

“I think people now understand what he does,” he said. “He’s different from other players. His chest on to James Morrison and flicks on and ability to keep the ball were fantastic. A lot of fans just go for pace and running about. He’s more than that.”

The win over Slovakia was, while deserved, not as impressive as those over Slovenia at home or Lithuania away and Strachan conceded they had, to a degree, missed the invention of Stuart Armstrong going forward and the ball-winning qualities of Scott Brown in the middle of the park.

It was, however, still a vastly superior display to the one they produced against Lithuania at home a year ago tomorrow, when only a late James McArthur goal salvaged a 1-1 draw, or Slovakia away three days later when they were thrashed 3-0.

There have been wholesale changes in personnel since those wretched outings and Strachan admitted their play, particularly their distribution of the ball, was vastly improved.

“Sometimes when you are not passing the ball well that lack of energy comes in,” he said. “You get stressed and lose that energy because of nervousness. At this point now there doesn’t seem to be that nervousness. The energy also comes from feeling good about yourself. There was a point when we had to dig deep to get to where we are just now.”

Strachan knows, despite the feelgood factor that surrounds the Scotland team at the moment, his charges will have to draw on all their reserves of strength and perform to the very best of their abilities once again tomorrow to defeat opponents who were only beaten by England when Harry Kane netted an injury-time goal at Wembley on Thursday night.

“I think football fans now all know how hard it’s going to be,” he said. “They saw us only getting a late winner against them and England got a late winner. Everybody knows how hard this section has been.”