Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee warns his players that they must learn from the defensive lapses they showed at Wembley when they play Belgium at Hampden in World Cup qualifying on Friday. (Daily Mail)

And, in particular, McGhee says the players must toughen up when they face Aston Villa star Christian Benteke. (Daily Record)

Ikechi Anya, Watford's Glasgow-born wing-back who could make his debut for Scotland this week, reveals he could also have played for Nigeria, his father's country, or Romania, where his mum is from. (Various)

Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet hopes his early-season club form will help him force his way into the Belgium team, where Thibaut Courtois is the established goalie. (The Sun)

Hibernian midfielder Kevin Thomson went from playing in front of 40 fans for the club's youth team at the weekend to being called up for the Scotland squad two days later. (Daily Record)

Livingston midfielder Stefan Scougall has denied suggestions made by Peterborough that a move there had fallen through because the Scotland Under-21 player had been too greedy. (Daily Express)

Barcelona full-back Dani Alves has revenge on his mind when the Catalans return to Celtic Park in the Champions League, following their defeat there last season. (Daily Record)

Barry Bannan says he moved to Crystal Palace from Aston Villa because he didn't want to sit on the sidelines taking wages from Villa and because he is keen to keep his place in the Scotland squad. (Daily Express)

Talks are ongoing at Rangers to avoid the need for an EGM, which has been requested by a group of shareholders seeking to oust chief executive Craig Mather and directors Bryan Smart and Brian Stockbridge. (Various)

Ibrox midfielder Nicky Law reckons his team-mate Arnold Peralta is "probably more aggressive than Rino Gattuso". (Daily Mail)

Former Hamilton Academical midfielder James McCarthy became the most expensive Scots-born player of all time when Everton paid £13m for him to move from Wigan. The Accies will earn about £1m from the move because of a sell-on clause in his contract when he left. (Various)

OTHER GOSSIP

If Ricky Burns successfully defends his WBO world lightweight title against Raymundo Beltran on Saturday, he must then fight mandatory challenger Terence Crawford from Omaha. (The Sun)