Scots call up Armstrong as Adams & Morgan drop out

Stuart Armstrong could add to his 51 Scotland caps

Nations League: Scotland v Croatia

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Friday, 15 November Time: 19:45 GMT

Coverage: Listen live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland and follow live updates on the BBC Sport website & app

Scotland have called up midfielder Stuart Armstrong for the Nations League games against Croatia and Poland as attackers Che Adams and Lewis Morgan withdraw from the squad.

Vancouver Whitecaps' Armstrong, 32, last featured for the Scots as a substitute in their final match at Euro 2024, the 1-0 defeat by Hungary.

Head coach Steve Clarke now has a 24-strong squad for Friday's home match with Croatia and Monday's fixture in Poland.

Adams' withdrawal was no surprise given he missed Torino's city derby with Juventus at the weekend with a thigh injury.

Scotland assistant John Carver said: "It's a blow when you lose any player, but in particular a player of his quality.

"He's got off to a good start in Italy and you could tell when he came into the last camp how confident he was, scoring a few goals and quite excited by his new future."

Clarke's side have taken one point so far in Group A1 and are three points behind Poland.

That point was secured in their last game, a 0-0 draw at home to leaders Portugal, which followed narrow defeats by Poland at Hampden and away to Portugal and Croatia.

Adams' withdrawal leaves Tommy Conway, Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland competing for a starting berth up front against Croatia.

However, while Conway has scored five times for Middlesbrough this season, Dykes has only found the net once, against Fulham Under-21s, since joining Birmingham City in August, while Heart of Midlothian's Shankland has only netted once in 18 matches this term.

Carver backed Shankland to return to the form that brought 33 goals for club and country last season.

"I watched the game against Omonia because it was my ex-team and he had a couple of chances," he said of Hearts' Conference League tie. "When you're a good player and you're a goalscorer, eventually that barren spell happens.

"He's around good people, we'll help him. Sometimes it's a bit of a relief coming away from club football, because you're in a different environment.

"We all know what he's about. He's a goalscorer, he gets between the posts, he plays inside the 18-yard box. If he has to play for us, or start or come on, that's what we want him to do and we'll encourage him to do that.

"The good thing is, he's actually getting into those positions to actually try and score goals. It's just not coming off for him now, where it did last season and the season before that. So, everybody's in full support of Lawrence. We love him to bits and the players around him understand it."

Scotland squad

Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon, Robby McCrorie, Cieran Slicker.

Defenders: Nicky Devlin, Grant Hanley, Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, Ryan Porteous, Anthony Ralston, Andy Robertson, John Souttar, Greg Taylor.

Midfielders: Stuart Armstrong, Connor Barron, Ryan Christie, Ben Doak, Ryan Gauld, Billy Gilmour, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Scott McTominay.

Forwards: Tommy Conway, Lyndon Dykes, Lawrence Shankland.