Maloney to face Faroes
Alex McLeish's squad has been hit by a number of injuries ahead of the clash with the Faroes
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Tuesday, 05, Jun 2007 05:46
Aston Villa striker Shaun Maloney will start for Scotland against the Faroe Islands tomorrow evening.
Scottish boss Alex McLeish has confirmed that Maloney will come into the starting lineup in place of Wigan's Lee McCulloch, who was forced out of the Euro 2008 qualifier with an ankle problem.
New Celtic signing Scott Brown is also out of contention for the clash at the Svangaskard Stadium, Toftir, which Scotland need to win to keep up with group B pacesetters Italy and France.
But McLeish's side have been dealt a blow with the news that captain Barry Ferguson has picked up a knock which could keep him out of the game.
"We've got one or two niggles, Barry Ferguson being one of them," McLeish admitted.
"He has missed training for the last couple of days but we'll give him every chance. At this point he is 75 to 80 per cent [fit].
"But I believe that by kick-off time every player will be available."
Ferguson sustained the ankle injury in the morale-boosting 1-0 win over Austria in a friendly in Vienna last weekend.
And even if he fails to recover in time for tomorrow's meeting with the group minnows, Scotland will know that anything less than three points against a team they beat 6-0 in the home leg will be considered a major failure.
McLeish's side are currently fourth in the group on 12 points from six games - the same total as third-placed Ukraine - while France are top on 15 points, two ahead of Italy.
The Faroe Islands have yet to pick up a point in their seven games and have only scored two goals, although one of those was against world champions Italy who managed just a 2-1 victory in Toftir on Saturday.