Gordon Strachan never doubted Scotland would find a winner against Slovakia

Gordon Strachan insists he never lost belief as Scotland edged past Slovakia 1-0 in their World Cup Qualifier thanks to an 89th-minute Martin Skrtel own goal.

Slovakia were reduced to 10 men after 23 minutes with Robert Mak shown a second yellow for simulation, and from then on Scotland dominated proceedings at Hampden Park.

Chances came and went for the hosts as Slovakia stood strong, with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka pulling off a string of fine saves.

The crossbar twice denied Scotland too - from Chris Martin and Leigh Griffiths efforts - before Skrtel turned the ball into his own net to keep the Tartan Army on track for a play-off spot in November.

Strachan admitted it would have been a disappointment if they had come away with anything other than a victory.

"I wasn't too bad to be honest with you," Strachan told Sky Sports after the match. "I genuinely thought we were going to score a goal. I did.

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"It would have been a huge disappointment if we didn't. That was some performance, I know there was 10 men there and it shook us for a bit, but that's because you do all your homework to face 11.

"We got a bit more time on the ball, they can keep the ball when they get it back, but there's no doubt about the man of the match, for them - the goalkeeper. He was magnificent. And the crossbar was good as well."

Injuries to Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong meant Strachan had to make changes and he brought Barry Bannan, Darren Fletcher and James Morrison into midfield.

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A tense affair saw Martin, Ikechi Anya and James McArthur introduced in the second half with Slovakia continuing to thwart the hosts, and Strachan was delighted to see the fitness of all 14 players pay off with a late winner handed to them by the "footballing gods".

"The 14 boys changed the result from a draw to a victory. It says a lot about their fitness, because you need that to have mental strength," Strachan added.

"If you don't have fitness, you'll just be a weak person. People like Barry, who is five-foot-whatever, the same height as me, against a big, tall guy - he kept plugging away.

"We've got all these great performances and what you get is the footballing gods who have decided to give us a victory.

"I'm just going to enjoy this for an hour-and-a-half and then I'll think about the Slovenia game once this is over."

Scotland head to Slovenia on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Football, where they know a victory would seal second spot, and with it, a likely play-off spot.