GORDON Strachan announced his squad on Monday for the start of Scotland’s World Cup qualifying campaign. A nation shrugged its shoulders in indifference. Perhaps the only task harder than making the finals in Russia in two years’ time will be trying to revive interest in their prospects among an increasingly disenfranchised fanbase.

Not qualifying for Euro 2016, and then seeing a plethora of smaller nations thrive in Scotland’s absence, dealt the initial damaging blow to morale. When the manager then named a squad featuring no new faces for the opening match of the next campaign away to Malta it did little to lift the collective sense of anguish. Same players, same outcome, seemed to be the instant conclusion reached by many. Optimism, that quality that has sustained the Tartan Army for many a decade during thin and thinner times, seemed to be for once in short supply.

Strachan has never felt the need to turn his aerial in the direction of public opinion but he is undoubtedly irked at the idea that the national team had grown “stagnant” on his watch. Instead he believes it is a matter of misperception. Ten of the players named for the opening qualifier in the last campaign are no longer with the group. And there are five outfield players in this squad all aged 21 or under and with a total of six friendly caps between them. All could make an impact in the years ahead.

That he has not made more changes, Strachan makes clear, is because he does not believe there are more young or promising players out there who deserve a call-up. For the time being, then, he will persist with the crux of the previous squad until that situation improves.

“We are evolving - there are 10 changes there [from the first squad the last time], brought five new players in, and that says it all,” he said. “People sometimes just like seeing different things. They want different faces. But the reality is different from the perception.

“The truth is, someone like Gordon Greer came in late, at 34, but played 10 games and went undefeated in all of them, which is some going. Age isn't a problem to me, whether you're 34 or 18.

“We had Oliver Burke in when he'd played three first-team [club] games. If I had said to people in Scotland five months ago, tell me about him, not one person would have known who he was. We’re quite happy to take a chance on youngsters but we’re definitely not going to put them in just because their name is different from someone else who has been about for years.

“I’d love to have a squad of 23 years olds who were all brilliant but it doesn't work that way. The younger guys we’ve brought in aren't just in because they're younger, it's because at this moment in time this is the best squad I can pick.

“I scratch my head when people say there’s no change to the squad. It looks completely different to me to two years ago. I really can’t understand why people think it’s a stagnant squad. As far as I’m concerned it’s changed quite significantly, especially since I first took over. It’s unrecognisable.”

Burke, in particular, is one being spoken of in breathless terms as “the new Gareth Bale” amid transfer speculation this week linking him with £10 million moves to Liverpool, Arsenal and Sunderland. The winger is yet to win a cap in a competitive game – and also qualifies to play for England – but Strachan will not pitch him in against Malta simply to remove that doubt from the equation.

“He's different, he's got blinding pace, he's strong, and he can run with or without the ball,” the manager said. “He's still a young fella, there's things he has to work on and he knows that. In terms of giving him a competitive cap I think I know what you're talking about but that's not my priority when I'm playing this game. My priority is to make sure we put in a good performance against Malta.”

At the other end of the age scale, Strachan hoped to see his new captain Darren Fletcher return to prominence in the campaign ahead after featuring only fleetingly last time out.

“He gets a game every week at West Brom and if Tony Pulis is picking him every week in the Premier League and trusting him, I'm happy to follow his guide,” he said. “When he first came back [from serious illness] he broke himself in gently but he's off the leash now, more comfortable about everything he's doing and he knows fine well everything is behind him.

“He's a man who makes very few headlines and doesn't need them, doesn't need to be a celebrity off the pitch, he only wants to be a good player on it. He only wants to be a good team-mate and help people round about him. For me, that’s a fantastic footballer and a fantastic man.”