GORDON Greer is optimistic his bright start to the new season with Brighton will help convince Scotland manager Gordon Strachan to hand him a start at centre half against Georgia on Friday night.

Russell Martin of Norwich City is certain to be given the nod by Strachan for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Kakhaber Tskhadadze’s side in the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena.

However, who plays alongside Martin in the heart of the defence in Tbilisi is unclear with Grant Hanley of Blackburn Rovers, Greer and Charlie Mulgrew of Celtic all in contention.

But former Kilmarnock defender Greer has helped his Amex Stadium club win four and draw one of their opening five league games and move to the top of the English Championship.

"First and foremost, I am honoured to be part of the squad, but at the same time, I am keen to play,” he said.

"I will train as hard as I can as well as I can and it is up to the manager at the end of the day. You have to respect his decision as to who he picks. We will give our full support if we are picked or not.

"As a centre back, you get a lot more experience with age. You come across a lot of things and I will just keep training as well as I can. Hopefully, I will get more opportunities.”

Greer, who started the Group D match against Poland last October alongside Martin and helped Scotland record a 2-2 draw, believes working under Chris Hughton, who took over at Brighton the end of last year, has been beneficial to his form.

"Having a different manager takes a few weeks and months to get used to and what he wants out of it,” he said.

"But it is good experience and as you get older, you have worked with a few different managers with different ideas. You take positives from all of them. We have started great this season and it is brilliant be a part of it.”

Greer, who won his eighth cap for his country in the friendly international against Qatar at Easter Road in June, believes Scotland will be capable of keeping a clean sheet against Georgia regardless of how is selected in defence.

He said: “I have played with both Grant and Russell - we train together and when you get the opportunity to play together it is great The lads are good players as is Charlie - who I have played with as well.

"You train together in the week of the game so it is not as if you are just thrown in at the deep end. There is no communication barrier as there can be with foreigners so it is fine.”

Scotland are in third spot in Group D with just four games - against Georgia, World Cup holders Germany, section leaders Poland and minnows Gibraltar - remaining.

Greer echoed his manager's sentiments when he insisted the national team could qualify for the finals in France automatically and end an 18 year wait to be involved in a major tournament.

"I think it is wide open at this moment," We have got as good a chance as anyone and I feel we are a good side

"There is good competition for places and at this moment in time, I think for us we are looking to do as well as we can out of this.

"We go into every game trying to win and if we win all the games then we won't be far away. It is not always as easy as that though."

Greer has been joined at Brighton this year by Jack Harper, the 19-year-old Spanish-born forward who spent six years on the books at Real Madrid, and revealed his team mate hopes to represent Scotland one day.

“He is a good lad,” he said. “He has been injured since he came in but he comes with a high pedigree. I have not actually seen him play yet because of injury, but he has got a good reputation and hopefully he does well for us.

“We have spoken about Scotland a few times and he sees himself hopefully playing for Scotland one day as well.”