Last Updated: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:32
Scotland boss George Burley has denied that the amount of withdrawals from his squad is down to the Old Firm game this weekend.
Seven players have withdrawn from the side to play Croatia on Wednesday but Burley denies it is anything to do with the crucial Old Firm game on Saturday lunchtime.
"All these players here are desperate to play for their country and, individually, they want to play for Scotland," Burley said on Setanta Sports News.
"They all came and reported but the medical people had a look at them and said they were not fit - unfortunately it's as simple as that.
"It wasn't a case of looking at the game on Saturday - they were injured."