MATT Ritchie last night insisted there was nothing wrong with his challenge which led to the free-kick which Scotland conceded a devastating injury-time goal at.

Ritchie, who had equalised with a stunning strike just before half-time, was penalised by referee Viktor Kassai for a foul on Kamil Glik in added on time.

Gordon Strachan’s side was leading 2-1 at the time and their hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2016 finals in France next year were still alive.

However, Robert Lewandowski netted with the final kick of the game after Kamil Grosicki’s dead ball delivery struck the post and spun across the goal line.

Ritchie, the Bournemouth winger, was incensed with the award and stressed he would have no qualms about making the same challenge again.

“It’s so disappointing not to win because we performed very well,” he said. “So to concede in the manner we did in the last seconds was a real kick in the teeth.

“If I could do it again I would go in for the tackle again because I’m an honest player. You get a split second to make the decision, but I think it was a cheap one.

“I was trying to get goal side and he’s used his body well. But it was a soft goal to concede. It’s so disappointing because we did enough to win it.

“We controlled the second half, we pressed well and it was a good performance all round –apart from the goals we lost.

“I thought we were brilliant in the second half and we were seeing it out before we got punished late on.”

Ritchie added: “It was a bittersweet night for me. It was really pleasing to score and at the time it was a big goal.

“I was delighted and if we had won I would class it higher than my goal against Sunderland recently for Bournemouth. But it wasn’t and overall it’s a huge disappointment.”

Gordon Strachan’s side are now six points behind both Poland and the Republic of Ireland in Group D with just one game – against Gibraltar on Sunday – still to play.

Ritchie felt the defeats to Germany at home and away and the reverse to Georgia in Tbilisi last month had ultimately scuppered Scotland’s chances of going through.

“There’s not many games so you do look back on the ones you have lost,” he said. “But we came into tonight with a great opportunity and we have not done it.

“So it’s this game we are all looking at right now. We’ve not qualified and it’s bitterly disappointing.”

Strachan’s contract as Scotland manager expires after the game against Gibraltar this weekend and Ritchie has urged him to remain in his position and oversee the national team’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

“He needs to stay,” said Ritchie. “He has been fantastic with me since I’ve come into this group. I hope the people above in the SFA and the manager can talk and get his future sorted.

“The boys could not believe what happened over in Ireland. To see they beat Germany was unexpected, but football throws up surprises and that’s why everyone loves football.

“We weren’t in touch with what was going on over there. We were fully focused on Poland. In the dressing room afterwards everyone was down but we pick each other up. But it’s a hard result to swallow.”

Steven Fletcher thought he had secured a vital three points for Scotland with his sensational strike in the second half and was devastated that ultimately it counted for nothing.

“It was nice to get onto the scoresheet, especially with one that I thought was a great finish,” he said. “But the result was the main thing and it doesn’t count for as much, if anything now. It was obviously a good goal and I was happy with it, but, as I said, we didn’t manage to get a win.

“We know what football can be like. Ireland have done great to get a result over in Dublin against Germany and credit to them, but we had to do our job and we were unlucky with the goal at the end.

“This squad has always shown character. When people have put us down, we have always come back and shown what we have got. We did that against Poland, even though, ultimately, we did not get the result we wanted.

“We have got a great squad and there are boys in it who didn’t get onto the park who are pushing for starts. It’s a big squad and a young squad who want to get to a big tournament. Hopefully in years to come we can do that with a great manager behind us.”