“They were in agony as well and that shows you the effects of a long, hard season.”

Scotland fans have been grumbling about the number of call-offs from Rangers players since George Burley took charge - but McManus insists they are all genuine and no-one in the squad has taken the hump at players withdrawing.

The stand-in Scotland skipper added: "We have a lot of respect for the Rangers players and I think they feel the same way for us.

“The fans would love it if we said we hated each other but it's not the case.

“Rangers have had a lot of games and players have a feel for other players. There’s not one guy in the Scotland set-up who will say they have a tight hammy or whatever and try to drop out. There are no stars in our group.

“Everyone wants as many caps as they can and I know for a fact that players wouldn’t pull out unless they were struggling.That’s been the case before Croatia game and the Czech Repubic match.”

Meanwhile, McManus is certain Celtic players will have the hunger to go for four in a row.

He added: “The league is over and we enjoyed the celebrating. But once we’ve relaxed and re-charged the batteries we need to go again for another season.”