Scotland v Holland, World Cup qualifier
Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Wednesday, 9 September KO: 1930 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Scotland, with highlights on BBC One Scotland @ 2245 BST
**Scotland are hoping Scott Brown can recover from an ankle injury in time to face the Netherlands on Wednesday.**The midfielder opened the scoring in Saturday’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Macedonia but had to be withdrawn for the last 20 minutes.
James McFadden, Scotland’s other scorer at Hampden, is suspended following a controversial yellow card on Saturday.
Callum Davidson misses out with a hamstring injury but fellow defender Gary Caldwell returns from a ban.
A draw against the Dutch will be enough to guarantee second spot in Group 9 but would probably not be enough to seal a play-off spot for next year’s finals.
George Burley’s men must therefore go all out for victory against the nation ranked third best in the world.
The manager admits losing the talismanic McFadden is a major setback and will not want to lose midfield dynamo Brown as well.
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“Scott got a whack on his ankle but we all know that he is lion-hearted,” said Burley. "He will be desperate to play so we will give him every chance possible.
"Callum Davidson will be out with a hamstring and we have a few players with other knocks.
“We will work very hard on them to get them fit for the massive game on Wednesday.”
McFadden picked up his second yellow card of the campaign seconds before the interval following a melee after Brown became involved with a clutch of Macedonia players who were unhappy that he had participated in a drop ball - and won a corner - instead of giving the ball back to the visitors.
The Birmingham star claims he was the victim of mistaken identity and went on to play a dazzling role after the break, capping a fine display with a wonderful solo goal.
“Losing James is a massive blow,” added Burley. "I thought at times in the second half he was unbelievable.
"I didn’t realise he was booked. I don’t know if it was mistaken identity but seemingly there is no procedure to appeal a yellow card so there is nothing we can do.
"And James showed his commitment to the country even though he knew that he wasn’t going to be playing against Holland, and he will be cheering the loudest on Wednesday night.
“But we have other players and all three substitutes who came on - Steven Whittaker, Shaun Maloney and Paul Hartley - all did well.”
Whittaker impressed at left-back after replacing Davidson early in the first half and is sure to keep his place.
Central defender Caldwell could replace his Celtic team-mate Stephen McManus, who played 90 minutes against Macedonia despite not having featured for his club this season.
Burley is adamant that Scotland will be going all out for victory against the Dutch.
“We are looking to win the game, as simple as that,” said Burley. "We have a belief that we can take the three points, even though we know that Holland are a fantastic team.
“We will have 50,000-plus fans behind us and we are determined not to let them down. So we won’t be pensive about it.”
The Dutch, who have a 100% record in qualifying, will be without injured PSV Eindhoven playmaker Ibrahim Afellay but Inter Milan star Wesley Sneijder could be fit despite being carried off with an ankle injury during Saturday’s 3-0 friendly win over Japan.