MIDFIELDER MCGINN WILL MISS CLASH IN DENMARK

John McGinn has confirmed he is out of Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Denmark after testing positive for coronavirus.

The self-isolating Aston Villa midfielder missed his team’s Premier League draw against Brentford on Saturday and he later revealed he returned a positive Covid test last Monday.

“All the Scotland boys are close so it’s been difficult keeping this quiet and not telling them I won’t be playing,” McGinn said.

“That’s been strange, but I’ll be the same as everyone else on Wednesday – I’ll be a Scotland fan.

“I’m not naive enough to think I’ll just come back and be absolutely flying, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure I’m ready for the Moldova game (on Saturday) if and when I get a negative test next week.”

Motherwell right-back Stephen O’Donnell could be a doubt after missing his side’s 1-0 win over Dundee on Saturday through illness, the third match in a row he has sat out.

There was better news elsewhere for Scotland boss Steve Clarke as two strikers returned from illness to score for their teams.

Lyndon Dykes came off the bench to net his third goal of the season in QPR’s 2-0 victory over Coventry, while Kevin Nisbet struck the opener in Hibernian’s 2-0 win against Livingston.

Meanwhile Celtic duo James Forrest and Greg Taylor are “unlikely” to join up with the Scotland squad, according to their club boss Ange Postecoglou.

Both players missed the Hoops’ 1-0 defeat by Old Firm rivals Rangers at Ibrox.

Asked after the match if Forrest would be available for his country, Postecoglou said: “I would say unlikely.”

Then, quizzed about Taylor, who has a shoulder problem, the Australian replied: “Again, I would say unlikely, but I will leave that to the medical teams. Greg wasn’t ready today so I think unlikely. He (Forrest) was close. We had him in the squad. He trained (on Saturday) and he just didn’t feel 100%.

“It’s a long season and we didn’t want to unnecessarily throw him in. I was hopeful. As of (Sunday) morning he was still in the squad and we had to pull him out.”

Scotland face Denmark on Wednesday then Moldova at home on Saturday, before a trip to Austria on the Tuesday.