Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Scotland to miss Ritchie
MATT Ritchie has become the latest player to withdraw from Scotland’s squad f or the World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Slovenia.
The winger played the full 90 minutes for Newcastle against Liverpool but the Scottish Football Association announced last night that he had pulled out of the squad.
There are currently no plans to call up a replacement.
Ritchie joins Celtic duo Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown, who have also been ruled out of the two qualifiers that will determine Scotland’s fate.
The withdrawals of Armstrong and Brown prompted Scotland boss Gordon Strachan to call up Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor yesterday.
The 24-year-old took his goals tally for the season to six with a double in Celtic’s 2-2 draw against Hibernian on Saturday.
The uncapped McGregor has only been called up once previously, for a European Championship qualifier against Germany in 2014, but his form had led to calls for him to be included again.
Armstrong’s withdrawal had left Strachan short of options in midfield. James Morrison was an unused substitute in West Brom’s 2-2 draw with Watford on Saturday and has not been a regular this season, although he played the second-half of Scotland’s 2-0 victory over Malta.
Hibs midfielder John McGinn gave a reminder of his goalscoring prowess as he also hit a double at Parkhead on Saturday.
Scotland’s squad met up yesterday despite a number of players still being on club duty, and Strachan will desperately hope Ritchie is the only casualty.