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Scotland selection headache worsens ahead of Georgia clash
GLASGOW (AFP) - Scotland manager Alex McLeish will be scratching his head on the selection front as they build-up to Wednesday's Euro 2008 qualifying match in Georgia.
Scott Brown and Alan Hutton are the most recent players to be out of the frame for this match as Scotland look to continue their winning run, having claimed six successive victories for the first time since 1949.
Celtic midfielder Brown limped out of Saturday's 3-1 win over Ukraine at Hampden Park with a hamstring strain, while Rangers full-back Hutton suffered a calf knock during the clash.
McLeish was already coming to terms with being without Lee McCulloch and Garry O'Connor through suspension - yellow cards against Ukraine sent both through the disciplinary threshold - when he learned on Sunday afternoon of the loss of another two players.
Brown and Hutton have been in inspirational form for both club and country this season and were regarded as key players for the match in Georgia having excelled again at the weekend.
The news will come as a blow to a jubilant Scotland camp, who regrouped at the team hotel earlier on Sunday after being given the night off to celebrate their victory with family and friends.
A spokesman for the Scottish Football Association told PA Sport: "Unfortunately, Alan Hutton and Scott Brown are both out of the Georgia game. Graeme Murty has been brought in, along with Darren Fletcher. The players joined up at 3pm this afternoon after having the night off.
"Everyone has been assessed and everyone else is fit to travel. There are no further changes planned at this time."
The news of Fletcher's return to the international fold helps temper the blow of losing four players over the weekend, according to McLeish.
He was informed by Alex Ferguson that the Manchester United midfielder would be fit to make the trip to Tbilisi, to bolster a squad which had already suffered the loss of Celtic pair Paul Hartley and Gary Caldwell.
Fletcher - who was suspended for the Ukraine match in any case - has not played since hobbling out of last month's 1-0 win in France with a broken bone in his leg and McLeish believes his involvement in Georgia is a massive boost for Scotland.
"It's fantastic news for us," he told Sky Sports. "We will have to wait and see whether we start him or not. He has a big chance of playing, particularly with the injuries that we have and the people who may need to be rested.
"He is a big player. He is a Manchester United player and Manchester United players exude an aura. To be fair, the squad already has that aura because of the results and performances that they have already so I take my hat off to them. They have been fantastic."
Murty's call-up provides the Reading player with the opportunity to earn his first cap since the Kirin Cup tournament back in May 2006, when Walter Smith was national team boss.
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