A hand-out from the Scottish Premier League should ensure that the players receive the reported £70,000 in wages and bonuses owed to them with money left over to allow the club to complete this season's fixtures in the hope of a new investor coming in.

To compound their troubles, Gretna have been forced to play the champions at Almondvale after Motherwell'sFir Park, where they have lodged this season, was closed to sort the pitch.

Celtic's woes are of a different type.

The Scottish Cup quarter-final replay defeat by Aberdeen at Celtic Park in midweek was the fourth game without a win for the stuttering champions.

The Parkhead side could go into the Gretna game six points behind leaders Rangers, who play Hibernian on Saturday.

But Strachan was in no doubt as to what constitutes a proper crisis.

"What Gretna are going through would be a crisis," he said.

"If you are a family man and not being paid, that is a bit of a crisis.

"It's no fun when you have to go home and say 'I've not been paid.'

"That is a bit of a crisis and the lads there have handled themselves well.

"I've seen interviews on the telly when they have done very well.

"I've been in a lot worse positions than this.

"I think I might have used the word crisis when I was at Coventry and we had to beat Tottenham away, and hope that Middlesbrough and Sunderland got beat (for Coventry to avoid relegation).

"I think that was a bit of crisis then.

"Since then I haven't really been in a crisis."

The champions are currently struggling in front of goal, having scored once in their last four games.

After racing to hit the 25-goal mark in his first season at Celtic, striker Scott McDonald has failed to find the net in his last five outings, albeit one was only as a 10-minute substitute appearance against Barcelona in the Nou Camp.

But midfielder Paul Hartley refused to the blame the club's strikers for the relative goal drought.

He said: "We win games together and lose games together.

"If we keep playing the same way the goals will start coming.

"It's not just the front two - it's the whole team which takes responsibility.

"People point fingers at the front two - whoever the front two are - but it's a team game and we win the game together and it's the same when we lose or draw."