Strachan worn down by bench duty

GORDON STRACHAN acknowledged the problems his substitutes have caused this season after Georgios Samaras came off the bench to score a crucial winner against Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday.

After Hoops’ striker Scott McDonald had taken around 60 seconds to level Chris Porter’s 61st-minute opener, the former Coventry and Southampton boss threw on the Greece international and Scott Brown for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Shunsuke Nakamura in a bid to snatch a winner.

Samaras — who arrived on loan from Manchester City in January — vindicated Strachan’s decision when he dipped his head to meet Barry Robson’s 79th-minute corner.