Scotland squad confirmed as Celtic star's injury woes compounded with Rangers, Liverpool and Man Utd men in the mix

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has named his Scotland squad for the upcoming games against Netherlands and Northern Ireland later this month with a number of notables changes from the last camp.

Celtic captain Callum McGregor is the side's most notable absentee and misses out through injury, though there has been a recall for Rangers defender John Souttar after his recent good form in the Scottish Premiership at the hearts of the Gers defence. Souttar's former Hearts team mate Craig Gordon is also back in the Scotland squad after making a successful return from a broken leg in the new year.

Scotland enter the back-to-back friendlies searching for their first win in five having ended their hugely successful Euro 2024 qualifiers with entertaining draws against Georgia and Norway. Despite not tasting victory since the 3-0 win over Cyprus in September, optimism is high amongst the Tartan Army fanbase as they count down the days to their European Championship clash with Germany in June.

Other notable absentees in the squad are Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack, who has been omitted from the squad amid his recent injury troubles and joins Jacob Brown in missing from the Scotland set up for the upcoming games. Clarke has opted to call up only three strikers, which means Oli McBurnie - who had been touted for a recall - has not been included in the squad. Plymouth Argyle man Ryan Hardie is also, once again, ignored. Kevin Nisbet is missing with a hamstring injury.

Hoops full back Anthony Ralston has kept his place in the squad with injury still ruling out Brentford wing back Aaron Hickey. Both Josh Doig and Robby McCrorie also drop out of the squad after being parts of the substitutes in November's 3-3 draw with Norway.

The first clash will take place at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam as they face a strong Netherlands side in the Dutch capital on Friday 22 March before Clarke's side return to Glasgow for a home nations friendly against Northern Ireland at Hampden Park on Tuesday 26 March.

Scotland last faced Ronald Koeman's Dutch side prior to their Euro 2020 campaign as they played out an entertaining 2-2 draw that saw both Stuart Armstrong and Andy Robertson get on the scoresheet. It has been almost a decade since they faced Northern Ireland though, with the last clash won by a 86th minute Christophe Berra goal almost exactly nine years ago at Hampden Park.

Full Scotland Squad for games with Netherlands and Northern Ireland on March 22 and March 26:

Goalkeepers: Zander Clark (Hearts), Craig Gordon (Hearts), Liam Kelly (Motherwell), Angus Gunn (Norwich City)

Defenders: Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Scott McKenna (FC Copenhagen), Nathan Patterson (Everton), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), John Souttar (Rangers), Greg Taylor (Celtic), Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad)

Midfielders: Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Christie (AFC Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Billy Gilmour (Brighton), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Scott McTominay (Manchester United)

Forwards: Che Adams (Southampton), Lyndon Dykes (Queens Park Rangers), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts)