Exclusive - John Collins: Scotland’s World Cup hopes are over after Wales defeat

Former Celtic midfielder and Scotland international John Collins believes Scotland’s hopes for World Cup qualification are over following their 2-1 defeat to Wales at Hampden Park.

The visitors came back from a goal down to win the game, while Gordon Strachan missed a number of key first-team players through injury, a problem that was heightened when Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher was forced to come off after only minutes of play.

Scotland now sit rock bottom of their qualifying group after recording only two points from five games, and Collins told talkSPORT that his nation now have to put all their focus on the qualifying campaign for the 2016 European Championships, which kicks off late next year.

“Hopefully we can get off to a flyer in our next campaign and get some confidence, because this one is all over,” Collins told the Sports Bar.

“We’ve got to keep working and keep persevering.

“It’s going to be difficult for us now, we’ve dropped right down the pecking order and we’re getting tough draws.

“But we’ve just got to hope we can get a group of players together and get off to a good start.”