Scottish Gossip: Scotland, Aberdeen, Celtic, Rangers, Ross County, Hibs

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Aberdeen ace Kenny McLean will today be handed his first Scotland call-up, with the Dons midfielder to be included in one of the two squads being named by Gordon Strachan for the friendly matches with the Czech Republic and Denmark. (Daily Express)

McLean, Celtic's Kieran Tierney and Hibernian's John McGinn will all be called into the national squad for the first time. (Daily Record)

Mark Warburton has slapped down Chris Sutton's claim that none of the Rangers players would get into Celtic's starting line-up. (Daily Mail)

Warburton insists Rangers will have had a poor season if they beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final but falter in the Championship. (Daily Express)

The Rangers manager will strongly oppose any bid to reschedule one of his side's Championship matches for the midweek leading up to the Scottish Cup semi-final. (The Scotsman)

Former Ibrox striker Mark Hateley predicts Rangers will find it tough to overcome Celtic without leading scorer Martyn Waghorn, who is currently sidelined through injury. (The Herald)

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee insists Celtic must now be worried about Aberdeen's title challenge after the Dons closed the gap on the Premiership leaders to a single point. (Daily Record)

Scott Allan has made just one league start since joining Celtic in the summer of 2015

Kilmarnock boss Lee Clark believes Scottish football could witness a winner-takes-all title decider when Aberdeen visit Celtic after the split. (The Herald)

Leeds United have joined the race to sign Celtic's forgotten man Scott Allan. Nottingham Forest, Derby County and Queen's Park Rangers have all been linked with the midfielder. (Daily Record)

Alan Stubbs has urged his team to use the hurt of last season's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Falkirk to drive them on to victory in Sunday's League Cup final against Ross County. (Daily Mail)

New dad Gary Woods thinks Ross County's name is on the League Cup, as he has already seen it in the skies. Two days after naming his new daughter Aurora, the Woods family saw the Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis - in the Highlands for the first time. (Daily Star)

Alex Smith insists a first major trophy for Ross County would cap a fairytale year for football in the Highlands, after Inverness Caledonian Thistle's Scottish Cup triumph last season. (Scottish Sun)

Hamilton boss Martin Canning has hit out at the rules which will see defender Jesus Garcia Tena handed a three-match Premiership ban after being sent off in a youth match. (Daily Express)

OTHER GOSSIP

Greig Laidlaw will win his 50th Scotland cap against France on Sunday

Greig Laidlaw will become the joint most-capped Scotland captain on Sunday, but says he would swap his 50th cap for a win against France if given the choice. (Daily Mail)

Laidlaw believes Scotland will have the strength in depth to cope with Matt Scott's enforced lay-off, after the Edinburgh centre was ruled out of the remaining Six Nations fixtures against France and Ireland with an elbow injury. (Daily Express)

George Munsey is convinced Scotland can rekindle their T20 World Cup hopes against Zimbabwe today after an opening day defeat to Afghanistan. (Daily Record)

World darts champion Gary Anderson faces Michael Smith on television for the first time tonight with his protege admitting: "We want to smash each other." (Daily Mirror)