Alloa boss Peter Grant has claimed that James Forrest and Ryan Fraser 's bodies didn't allow them to play both games of a double header when he was Scotland assistant manager under Alex McLeish .
Grant and his boss were sacked in the weeks following a catastrophic 3-0 qualifying loss in Kazakhstan.
And the former Celtic midfielder has rounded on the mentality of the players in failing to push themselves for the national cause.
Speaking in the Scotsman , Grant said: "Mentally we've never been over the edge.
He continued: "Guys like Ryan Fraser and James Forrest can't play two matches together. You don't get the same performance from then (each time). Their bodies don't allow it.
Forrest will point to evidence from as recently as last week's international break, where he played both matches as a rebuttal of these claims.
Sports science also comes in for the Grant treatment.
He admits it has made strides for conditioning and diet but claims that it can foster a culture of excuse making and mental weakness.
He said: "Now academies have a thousand kids and the coaches will be like, 'He's had his ten minutes, you go on for five.'
Listen, good things have come out of sports science. Diet is excellent and players look like athletes. But they don't have the mentality. Young guys will say, 'Oh, I've had a hard day.'
"I will be like, 'Eh? I do what you do and I'm 54!'
