Being in the company of Denis Law is a humbling experience for any follower of Scottish football, but it is also a frustrating reminder of the attacking riches that our national team once possessed.

What football fan could help but be a little in awe of the great man, who not only tops the all-time Scotland scoring charts jointly with Kenny Dalglish on 30 goals, but also has the distinction of winning the Ballon D’Or in 1964 when in his pomp at Manchester United?

You then consider these achievements in the context of witnessing a hard-working but ultimately limited Scotland side falling short yet again in their quest to qualify for a major tournament, and you can’t help but wonder, truly, when will we see his like again?

Law appreciates that the likelihood of any of our current crop of forwards competing with Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo for football’s greatest individual prize are remote in the extreme, but in manager Gordon Strachan, he still believes the country has the right man at the helm to get the national side performing collectively as greater than the sum of its parts.

He said: “I would like to think that Gordon will be the manager for the next few years.

“Unfortunately in football there’s always a clamour to change the manager when the team falls short but they can’t all win.

“When Gordon Strachan got the job I thought we might have somebody here who can get the team back on track. Of course you need the right quality of player too but I felt - and still do - that he has got something there.

“He’s got a bit of character, he was a good player himself and he likes the team to play attacking football and uphold the traditions of the Scottish national team.

“So I was really hoping things would go his way and I still think he is the best man for the job.

“You have to wonder who else would be a better candidate to take over if he got the sack or decided himself that he had to go.

“Prior to Gordon coming in Scotland weren’t playing very well.

“I absolutely think Gordon should stay on. He’s got to stay, you can’t get rid of him if he wants to stay. I hope that he does stay.

“It was disappointing in the end. I just couldn’t believe the ball had gone in the back of the net.

“But based on that performance and overall campaign I think they have made progress. I thought they played well against Germany too and were a bit unlucky.

“The performance in Georgia was the disappointing one though.”

What Gordon Strachan would give for a striker of the calibre of Law. Whilst his faith in Steven Fletcher was given some credence by the Sunderland man’s exquisite curling finish against the Poles, his return of just four goals in the campaign so far, including three in one match against whipping boys Gibraltar, have led to calls for Celtic’s in-form hitman Leigh Griffiths to be given an opportunity to prove that he is the man to consistently get the goals that Scotland crave.

Law thinks that the dead rubber against the Gibraltarians on Sunday is the ideal opportunity to test the theory.

“I think he looks dangerous whenever I see him play,” he said.

“When you see him near the box you feel as if something will happen. I think that is what every team is looking for.

“You can play really good attacking football but you need someone to put it in the back of the net.

“Some guys, that's just what they do. We just haven't got anyone at that level just now.

“The Gibraltar game should be about giving people a chance. You don't know how they will do until you try them.

“Playing for your country is too big for some people but for others they just love it. It just looks so normal for them.

“International football is difficult because you don't get many chances. When you do you need to take them. But you have got to have guys making things happen and creating chances for you.

“When I was at United I had Bobby Charlton, George Best and Paddy Crerand. Without these kind of people you can't score goals as they are the ones who deliver it.

“My favourite striker was Jimmy Greaves. He wasn't the greatest player in the world, but when he was in front of goal you knew the ball was going to end up in the back of the net. We could be doing with someone like that.”

Scotland will not now have a chance to qualify for a major tournament until the twentieth anniversary of the last one they made it to, the World Cup finals in France in 1998.

Ironically, Law was a player the last time the country experienced such a barren qualification run, and he thinks that Scotland’s cause wasn’t helped by a tough draw for this campaign, just as his Scotland side often encountered in his heyday.

He added: “In the 60s it was very difficult to qualify for any of the tournaments because there was only one team that would qualify and a lot of the time you were playing the best teams in Europe.

“When this draw was made we were in a tough group compared to some of the others. We always seem to get the tough qualifying draw.

“The way the players played on Thursday night I think they looked good enough to get us through a qualifying campaign.

“We didn’t qualify for the World Cup in the sixties when we had some really good players and a great team as well.

“It was really difficult to qualify because some of the teams were fantastic. It was just unfortunate that we didn’t qualify in that period, and then when we did in ’74 I was past my best.

“I would have liked to have qualified in 1962 and 1966, I think we could have had a good run there in particular.”

*Denis Law was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is a proud sponsor of Scotland.