Clifton Bradeley Biomechanics and Podiatry Consultation

WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
NETHERLANDS V SCOTLAND
Venue: Amsterdam ArenA Date: Saturday, 28 March Kick-off: 1945 GMT
Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Scotland and online, live text commentary online and live commentary on BBC Radio nan Gaideal. Live on Setanta Sports 1, with highlights on Sportscene on BBC ONE Scotland at 2220 GMT. Online highlights on BBC Sport site.

McManus has been ruled out of the trip to Amsterd

Scotland defender Stephen McManus has lost his battle to be fit for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands.

Celtic captain McManus, 26, has failed to recover from an ankle injury sustained in club training and did not travel with the squad to Amsterdam.

He will receive treatment from Celtic's medical staff but is not being ruled out of Wednesday's match with Iceland.

Wolves defender Christophe Berra is the most likely candidate to replace him.

McManus, who has been capped 17 times by his country, picked up an ankle injury in training last week and missed Celtic's 2-2 Scottish Premier League draw at Dundee United on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Scotland manager George Burley has opted to play Allan McGregor ahead of regular goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the game in the Amsterdam ArenA.

Gordon has been struggling to secure a starting slot in the Sunderland first team, while 27-year-old McGregor has rediscovered his form for Rangers.

Burley said: "Allan McGregor will play because Craig has not been playing first-team football.

"Allan deserves a chance and he will start in Holland."

The Scotland manager explained his decision to award McGregor his fourth cap, almost two years after the keeper made his international debut in a 1-0 win in Austria.

He said: "There has been a lot of talk, a lot of speculation, people talking about the pros and cons of who to play.

"I had a chat with both goalkeepers yesterday and both were pushing for the number one spot.

"Craig is a magnificent goalkeeper but Allan did well against Argentina and he has been playing well for Rangers. Allan is excited at the prospect.

"It was important to make this decision now and not later."

My Sport: DEBATE Is Burley correct not to play Gordon and Hutton in Amsterdam?

In addition to McGregor's caps against Austria and Argentina, he played for the second 45 minutes against Northern Ireland at Hampden, during which he brought down Warren Feeney in the box and then saved the resultant penalty by David Healy.

Gordon moved to Sunderland from Hearts in 2007 for an initial fee of £7m, but has since lost the goalkeeping jersey to Hungarian Marton Fulop.

Though disappointed at losing his international place too, Gordon will be aware of the precedent set by Burley with his very occasional deployment of Kris Boyd in attack when the Rangers striker was struggling for game time at Ibrox.

I am not planning to play him in Holland although he will be considered for the Iceland game George Burley on defender Alan Hutton

Tottenham Hotspur defender Alan Hutton will not be risked in the match at the Amsterdam ArenA, but the Scotland camp insist the right-back will be considered for the home game against Iceland on 1 April.

"Alan played 72 minutes at West Brom on Monday and did very well. He had no problems and looked lively and bright," said Burley.

"But I spoke to him yesterday and I am not planning to play him in Holland although he will be considered for the Iceland game.

Paul Hartley has become the latest player to pull out of the squad, with a hamstring injury.

The news on captain Barry Ferguson is more heartening for Burley as the Rangers midfielder has fully recovered from a rib injury and trained as normal on Thursday.

Defenders David Weir and Kirk Broadfoot and winger Kris Commons had earlier pulled out with the versatile Steven Whittaker added.

Injuries had already denied Burley the services of James McFadden, Shaun Maloney, Barry Robson, Kevin Thomson, Lee Miller and Garry O'Connor when he named his original 26-man squad.

Atletico Madrid defender John Heitinga has been ruled out of the Netherlands squad after he picked up a head injury in the Spanish side's weekend defeat at Real Mallorca.

Heitinga is also a doubt for the Netherlands' next World Cup qualifier against Macedonia on Wednesday.

Reserve goalkeeper Michel Vorm of FC Utrecht has also pulled out of the squad to face the Scots.

Ibrahim Afellay, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Khalid Boulahrouz and goalkeeper Michel Vorm all return having missed last month's friendly against Tunisia.

But out-of-form Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was left out of coach Bert van Marwijk's 23-man line-up.

Scotland squad to face the Netherlands:

Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon (Sunderland), Allan McGregor (Rangers), David Marshall (Norwich City).

Defenders: Graham Alexander (Burnley), Darren Barr (Falkirk), Christophe Berra (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Gary Caldwell (Celtic), Alan Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie McAllister (Bristol City), Stephen McManus (Celtic), Gary Naysmith (Sheffield United), Steven Whittaker (Rangers).

Midfield: Scott Brown (Celtic), Barry Ferguson (Rangers), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), James Morrison (West Bromwich Albion), Gavin Rae (Cardiff City), Gary Teale (Derby County).

Forwards: David Clarkson (Motherwell), Steven Fletcher (Hibernian), Chris Iwelumo (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ross McCormack (Cardiff City), Kenny Miller (Rangers).

Netherlands squad:

Goalkeepers: Henk Timmer (Feyenoord), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax).

Defenders: Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart), Edson Braafheid (FC Twente), Dirk Marcellis (PSV Eindhoven), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax).

Midfield: Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar).