Buoyed by baby joy, Berra set to boost Levein’s bid

Wolves defender Christophe Berra was set to join up with the Scotland squad today after his partner gave birth to a baby girl.

The former Hearts player had stayed in England awaiting the birth of his first child as his international team-mates met on Monday to prepare for 
Saturday’s opening World Cup qualifier against Serbia.

Scotland manager Craig 
Levein told www.scottishfa.co.uk: “On behalf of the squad we are delighted with the news and send our congratulations to Christophe and his family.

“We look forward to him joining up. He has been training at his club this week so there are no issues with him fitness-wise.

“Christophe is a very important player for us and it will be good to have him available for Saturday.”

The centre-back is now almost certain to play, giving manager Levein some welcome good news on the defensive front.

Levein was already without full-backs Steven Whittaker and Phil Bardsley and saw Danny Fox and Russell Martin pull out on Monday, while 
Celtic’s Charlie Mulgrew is 
receiving treatment for an Achilles knock.

Levein called up Huddersfield left-back Paul Dixon and MK Dons defender Gary MacKenzie on Monday.