"It's self explanatory now and I will just say a few words." said the Celtic boss. "It's easier to find them closer to the game. I think everyone knows what the situation is - we are two points behind and looking to win a game and we are looking for help from somewhere else. We understand that, we get on with it and the reason is that we have not done enough to get ahead."
"We have no-one to blame bar ourselves." continued the manager. "And we have one last chance to rectify it on Sunday. If we give it our best shot and are successful then fair enough, if not, we have had a good bash at it."
"Playing is fine, the players have the easy part." added Strachan. "The supporters have the hardest part because they go through all the emotions. They'll be going through it this week and they have the hardest part, there's absolutely no doubt about it. They're the ones who cannot do anything about it apart from cheer and get upset, it's very, very hard for them. But what I'm saying is that I cannot ask, and the players cannot ask, for any more than what we've been given. Just give us what you've been giving us - that's all we need."
The players have been champing at the bit since last Sunday's frustrating goalless draw in Edinburgh and the manager has had to focus minds and bodies on this coming Sunday. The boss is hoping that he and his coaching staff will have succeeded in their efforts to have the Bhoys at peak fitness when they face the third-placed Gorgie side. "We have had an extra day and have had eight days to prepare for this." said Strachan. "We've had to make sure that we don't do too much and that we don't do too little. Hopefully the balance is right."
The boss knows that his side could and should have had this title wrapped up some weeks ago but he insists that the time to discuss these issues is at the end of the season and not before this vital final match. "We're not going to talk about that just now," said Strachan. "We will say as a group that we do not have enough points going into the last game of the season and that's our problem. "Then, what you do at the end of a year is sit down and analyse it and that's what we will be doing. We have done it every year after winning it and, win or lose, we will sit and look back on what we could have done better and will try and improve from there."