Scotland's rivals dealt Nations League injury blow as ex-Celtic star ruled out until 2025

Scotland’s next Nations League opponents have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their clash with Steve Clarke’s side next month.

The Tartan Army will look to pick up their first points of the campaign when they return to action with a double header in October, which starts with a trip to the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb to face Croatia on October 12, before they welcome Portugal to Hampden Park three days later.

While Clarke is yet to name his squad for the international fixtures, he has been handed a boost after Croatian head coach Zlatko Dalić confirmed former Celtic star Josip Juranović and Bayern Munich defender Josip Stanišić would not be part of his 25-man squad for next month’s fixture after the pair had failed to recover from recent injuries.

Josip Stanišić has been ruled out of the game with Scotland next month. | Getty Images

“Some players have returned to the pitch,” said Dalić. “Unfortunately, we’re still without Juranović and Stanišić on the right side, but I believe we can compensate well with the players we have, just as we did in September. We’re aware that these two matches can bring us closer to our goal, but we respect our opponents and know that we’ll only secure the points we want with the same approach, unity, and focus we had (in the last camp)”.

Former Celtic right-back Juranović has yet to feature for his current side Union Berlin in the Bundesliga this season after he underwent surgery in mid-August following an ankle injury he suffered in pre-season training, with some reports claiming he could be out for the remainder of 2024. There’s slightly better news for Bayern Munich defender Stanišić though, with Kicker claiming he could make a return to Bundesliga action in November in the ‘best case scenario’.

Croatia head into the clash against Scotland on the back of an impressive 1-0 victory over Poland in the last round of fixtures, where a 52nd minute Luka Modric strike helped them respond to a 2-1 defeat to Portugal and secure their first three points of the Nations League campaign. Silver medallists in the last Nations League campaign, the Kockasti occupy the second qualification spot in Group A1, while Scotland sit bottom after losing both of their opening games against Poland and Portugal.

Steve Clarke is expected to name his squad next week.