Double blow for Scots

James McFadden played well against New Zealand

Scotland have been a dealt a double-injury blow ahead of Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier with Germany.

Rising Motherwell star James McFadden has not recovered from a foot injury and has been ruled out, while Don Hutchison has also lost the fight to prove his fitness.

Celtic's Jackie McNamara and Wolves striker Kenny Miller were also nursing knocks but have been passed fit.

Hutchison, who scored in Scotland's surprise 1-0 win over the Germans in a 1999 friendly, has an ankle injury.

The 32-year-old West Ham man has scored six goals in his previous 23 appearances for Scotland and his experience will be a big loss.

McFadden, 20, has shown great promise this season, scoring 19 goals for the Premier League's bottom side.

And his performance was one of the few bright spots in the recent 1-1 draw with New Zealand.

The absence of McFadden and Hutchison, leaves the Scots short of attacking options.

Manager Berti Vogts has intimated that Stevie Crawford is a certain starter and must chose between Miller and Steven Thompson as a foil for the Dunfermline striker.

Scotland should adopt a 4-4-2 formation, with Hearts duo Steven Pressley and Andy Webster at the heart of defence, with Gary Naysmith and Maurice Ross taking up the full back roles.

Berti Vogts thinks Scotland will revel in the underdog role

Christain Dailly has been handed a man-marking job on German playmaker Michael Ballack, while Celtic skipper Paul Lambert will be asked to patrol the centre of midfield.

With Rangers skipper Barry Ferguson missing, Lambert will be assisted by Colin Cameron.

The one remaining midfield berth looks like a straight choice between Paul Devlin and McNamara.

Scotland are rated 9-2 shots with the bookmakers but Vogts insists the home side will revel in their role of underdog after struggling against "lesser" nations like Lithuania and the Faroe Islands.

"We saw that Germany got to the World Cup final last year, so they are the favourites, we are the underdogs," he said.

"I watched Germany beat Canada 4-1 at the weekend and they played well in the second half, but we beat Canada 3-1.

"It is 11 against 11 on Saturday, and I have seen how Germany have trouble against British opposition.

"They lost to the Welsh, they were beaten in their last game against Scotland and they also found it hard against the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup.

"So we are looking forward positively. We have started our special preparation for Germany and it's going very well."

Meanwhile, Saturday will see Scotland play in Fila's pin-striped strip for the last time.

A new £3m kit deal with Italian manufacturer Diadora has been agreed over a three-year period.

Have your say: BBC Scotland Fans Forum