Burley building team without Boyd

Boyd has stuck to his decision to remain out of Burley's Scotland set-up

George Burley says nothing has changed regarding the refusal of Rangers striker Kris Boyd to represent Scotland during his tenure as national manager.

Now in his post for a year, Burley described his and Boyd's position plainly. "I will pick the players who are available," he said.

"My job is to go round watching games and teams and choose players who are available. So nothing changes there."

Boyd has scored 18 goals in 16 games since he left the Scotland set-up.

The 25-year-old Rangers striker said he no longer wished to be considered for selection for the national team under Burley after the former Hearts and Southampton manager had left him on the bench for the World Cup qualifier at Hampden against Norway in October.

You don't see much of them and you are not working with them on the training pitch, so naturally you don't have the same input and the same day-to-day relationship with the players Scotland manager George Burley

Boyd felt that his 28 minutes of international action in six matches made it clear that Burley did not rate him.

The striker's exclusion from the Scotland team for the Norway game was highlighted all the more by debutant Chris Iwelumo's dreadful miss, the Wolves forward diverting the ball wide of an open goal.

Since then, Boyd has been a regular pick for Rangers boss Walter Smith, he has displayed greater involvement in his team's play outside the penalty box and, of course, he has established himself as the league's top scorer.

Burley's position on Boyd has been consistent since the player's announcement. He wishes to choose players who are committed to playing for Scotland and Boyd has done nothing to suggest that he is prepared to return to the fold.

Instead, Burley is focusing his energy on preparations for the match in the Netherlands at the end of March and the home tie with Iceland on 1 April.

Burley urges on his Scotland team in the draw against Norway

Boyd's walk-out followed the departure from international football of his Ibrox team-mate, Lee McCulloch, sparking rumours of discontent among the squad about Burley's management style.

Burley has had to get used to working with his squad intermittently, quite a change from his background in club management with Ipswich, Hearts and Southampton.

"You don't see much of them and you are not working with them on the training pitch, so naturally you don't have the same input and the same day-to-day relationship with the players," he said. "That's part of the job.

"But, then again, as players, you are playing for your country, so the motivation is there before you start, because playing for your country is a very special thing.

"But it is different and you have got to adjust to it.

"You just have to be patient and don't get frustrated between games because it is a long time before you see the players again."