Craig Brown last night stepped up the battle to hang onto his job as Scotland coach through his lawyers, who branded News of the World accusations of religious bigotry "completely untrue" and demanded a retraction.

Brown has not denied singing the famous Rangers anthem Billy's Boys into the answering machine of a girlfriend. But he insists he is not anti-Catholic and is clearly prepared to fight his corner through the law courts.

Rod McKenzie, of Glasgow law firm Harper MacLeod, last night released a statement on behalf of Brown.

It read: "Unless the News of the World offers a complete retraction and payment of substantial damages in the course of the next day or so, a summons will be issued in the Court of Summons.

"A summons will seek substantial damages in relation to the completely untrue allegation of religious bigotry."

But the problem for 59-year-old Brown's employers is not whether there is conclusive proof that he holds bigoted religious opinions but rather how the coach of the national team can be held up as an example after making such a crass error of judgment.