Murray to
step up for Canada clash
Vogts counts the cost of Iceland win
IAN MURRAY WILL
STEP UP for his first full
international cap at Easter Road tomorrow - but in spite of a series of
injuries Berti Vogts is keeping his selection to himself for the time
being! Vogts has admitted that at least five of his stars from the
2-0 win over Iceland on Saturday will not be in the squad to face the
Canadians at Easter Road, with Barry Ferguson, Paul Lambert, Jackie
McNamara and Gary Naysmith all having left the squad to return to their
clubs for treatment to various knocks picked up in Reykjavik.
Steven Pressley will also be missing from the Easter Road
clash as he is rested by the Scotland boss, with Aberdeen's Russell
Anderson looking set to take over that position, while James McFadden
looks set to switch to the Under-21 side who will play Ghana in Dumfries
this evening. That looks likely to leave the door wide open for
Murray to make his debut at Easter Road, having skippered Rainer
Bonhof's Under-21 side to their own 2-0 victory on Friday.
Confirming that McFadden would likely play tonight, Vogts also made it
clear that the front two for the Easter Road game at least would remain
unchanged, the Scotland boss saying: "It could be that McFadden will
play against Ghana at Queen of the South instead of the full
international. I thought that Stevie Crawford and Steven Thompson
did well in attack for us on Saturday and I want to take another look at
them, so they will likely start against Canada. They were also our
first line of defence in Reykjavik and I saw many special things there,
but we must remember we have only won one match and now the job goes on
to improve Scotland's reputation."
Ian Murray - set to make his international debut at Easter Road (sns)
Scotland's reputation was improved tenfold in Iceland, as
the many pundits who had written off their European Championship
ambitions after one game have been forced to back-track. While
nobody is claiming the Scots are a finished article, there were enough
signs on Saturday that they have at last understood what Vogts is
looking for. The Scotland boss will be looking for a second
victory at Easter Road against the Canadians, but it will be with a very
much changed side from the one that did the job for him on Saturday.
Likely to join Murray in the side tomorrow will be his former Easter
Road team-mate Gary Caldwell, who also starred for the Under-21 side in
Iceland. Tam McManus meanwhile looks set to be involved again for
the younger squad this evening.
Meanwhile Craig James will remain at Easter Road as
planned until the end of this season. James was given the option
of returning to Sunderland following the departure of manager Peter Reid
last week, but Hibs boss Bobby Williamson was delighted when the young
defender opted to remain at Easter Road. Williamson said: "I
had a chat with Craig and asked if he thought he'd be better going back
or staying with us, but he agreed to join us on a year's loan and unless
someone says otherwise he'll remain with us." Williamson has
the option of recalling skipper John O'Neil to his side for the visit to
Firhill on Saturday - but that looks unlikely. O'Neil played 70
minutes of Kevin McAllister's testimonial at Brockville on Friday and
came through the test well, however the Hibs will likely seek a few more
games for his skipper before considering him for a return to first-team
action. The same is likely to apply to Frederic Arpinon, who came
on for 15 minutes against Falkirk.
