Allan McGregor out of Scotland games after injury

Scotland goalkeeper Allan McGregor has been ruled out for up to six weeks. Picture: Neil Hanna

The news comes as the second half of a double blow for Scotland manager Gordon Strachan, who learned on Wednesday that he would be missing influential attacker Shaun Maloney for the two games.

The Wigan player was ruled out for three months with a hip injury.

McGregor’s injury will take six weeks to heal and comes as a major loss to his club Hull City and their battle to survive in the English Premier League.

“We’ve just found out this morning that Allan is going to be out for five or six weeks,” Hull manager Steve Bruce told the club’s official website.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, injuries are the one area where we needed to stay fit and healthy and this one couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“Allan will be a big miss for us because he has played very, very well and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

Steve Harper, brought in over the summer after his contract at Newcastle expired, will deputise for Hull, starting in this weekend’s trip to Tottenham. Bruce added: “We’re lucky that we can call upon somebody with his

experience.”

Hull go into the clash at White Hart Lane in ninth place, level on points with defending champions Manchester United.

McGregor, 31, would have been in line for his 32nd and 33rd caps after taking over from the injured Craig Gordon to become the undisputed number one in the past two qualification campaigns. His

absence opens the door for

either Cardiff’s David Marshall or Matt Gilks of Blackpool. Both played a half in September’s 2-1 win over Macedonia.