Gary Hooper withdraws from England Under-21 squad

CELTIC striker Gary Hooper has pulled out of the England Under-21 squad for the forthcoming friendly matches against Denmark and Iceland.

Hooper was called into the England set-up for the first time last week and was relishing the opportunity to prove his worth after a successful first season with Celtic since his transfer from Scunthorpe United last summer. But he was hurt playing for the Parkhead side in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final defeat to Rangers at Hampden on Sunday.

Mark Davies, Henri Lansbury, Alex Smithies and Jack Rodwell have also pulled out of the games, which will serve as warm-ups for the European Championships this summer.

Meanwhile St Mirren midfielder Kenny McLean has been drafted into the Scotland Under-21s squad for their friendly against Belgium.

The young Scots take on Belgium in an international challenge match in Deinze tomorrow and Billy Stark's squad had been weakened by the withdrawal of four players.

Steven Saunders (ankle), Jamie Ness (groin), Nicholas Ross (virus) and Gregg Wylde (hamstring) have all pulled out.

As well as McLean, Darren Cole of Rangers has also been called into the group.

Scotland under-21 goalkeeper Michael Andrews had to move sharpish last night after Stark gave him permission to play for East Stirlingshire in their Third Division game at Montrose.

The on-loan Falkirk youngster had to return to Glasgow immediately after the match to join up with the rest of Stark's under-21 squad, who fly out to Belgium this morning.