I KNEW RUSSIAN REF WOULD GIVE US PENALTIES

GARRY O'CONNOR swears he wasn't surprised when Russian referee Igor Egorov gave Scotland two first-half penalties - in fact, he insists he was expecting it.

The striker who switched from Hibs to Lokomotiv Moscow in summer has seen spot-kicks galore awarded in the Russian game.

He said: "I told the lads before the game loads of penalties are given by Russian refs. I told them even if they felt the slightest nudge they should go down and I was proved right.

"The second spot-kick was astonewall handball and I was delighted to see Kenny Miller stick it away.

"Scoring so many goals was brilliant for our confidence, especially when all the strikers were on target. We couldn't have asked for better.

"The overall performance was a good one and it sets things up well for Lithuania on Wednesday.

"There is competition for places in Walter Smith's team which can only be a good thing and I'll bide my time until I get the chance to start games.

"I was pleased with my performance after I came on. I got a goal so it worked out well for me."

O'Connor is adamant his switch from Easter Road to Russian football has not left him out in the international cold.

He said: "I have spoken with Walter and he respects the fact I am playing in a good league with good players so there's no problem.

"He knows I have been scoring goals for my club.

"He has several options in the striking positions so we will need to wait and see what he does on Wednesday but he will change the formation. "He will want us to match up defensively and look to score a goal and build on it.

"It's a tough group and we've had the perfect start so another positive result against Lithuania would be the ideal way to give us a chance of qualifying."

Taken from the Daily Record