Gordon Strachan was delighted with how Scotland handled the pressure to win their crucial World Cup qualifier against Slovenia.

Chris Martin's 88th minute goal gave Scotland a 1-0 win and breathed fresh life into their hopes of qualifying for Russia 2018.

The substitute's late strike came at the end of a match that Scotland had dominated and Strachan said how they had coped with a 'must-win' match had pleased him.

"We were the far better team," he said. "We were the team that had to play under pressure, play at home, so to deal with stress or pressure or whatever you want to call it and play as well as that, it's as good as I've seen them for a long, long time.

"To create that many chances in an international game against a very good side was pleasing.

"In the dressing room just now as a manager you get that glow watching these guys and staff enjoying themselves. So they really should be proud of their performance tonight and the country should be proud of their performance tonight."

The team had failed to convert a series of chances, particularly in the first half, and it had seemed like the result they so badly needed was going to pass them by. Strachan said he had in some moments feared they wouldn't get the goal the performance deserved.

"You do at times [fear the goal won't come] after starting the game so well and creating so many chances," he said.

"We had to change it when Leigh Griffiths got injured. It just took us a wee while to deal with that but again they never had any chances. We dealt with that well.

"Ikechi Anya came on and gave us something different and then Chris Martin came on and gave us that goal."

Strachan spoke in glowing terms about Stuart Armstrong's first game in a Scotland shirt, saying that it was the best Scotland debut he had seen and that the three points would make a big difference to the qualification campaign.

"Our chances are a lot better than they were this morning," he said.