I’ve got no time for conspiracy theories.
The injuries that have forced Celtic pair Leigh Griffiths and Kieran Tierney to drop out of the Scotland squad will be genuine ones.
The days of managers leaning on players to give an international weekend a miss are long gone.
In fact, they were long gone by my day.
I was certainly never asked, and I didn’t hear about anybody else being asked.
The Scotland medical staff check you out so you can’t fake an injury even if you wanted to.
Players want to represent their country and in the case of the two Celtic boys, Tierney would be desperate to establish himself with Scotland and Sparky would have seen this as a big opportunity.
We’re pretty well covered for left-backs at the moment, so Tierney’s absence might not be too significant.
But there’s no getting away from the fact that Sparky being out is a huge blow.
There’s not a better striker in the country just now and I’m sure Gordon Strachan would have played him.
He could have played up front on his own, as he has been doing for Celtic, or been equally effective in a partnership with Steven Fletcher.
I still think we’ll beat Malta but I’m not overly confident – certainly not as confident as I would have been if Leigh was on the trip.
It’s impossible to play down the importance of this match.
Get a win – maybe even a convincing win with a few goals – and there will be real optimism. The depressing end to the Euro qualifiers will be put behind us.
But if we lose or draw, the pressure will not only be on the team as a whole as far as the group is concerned, it will be huge on Gordon Strachan.
We want a good performance, we want goals and we want a win. I’d take just the last of the three – the win.
* There’s no doubt in my mind that David Marshall is Scotland’s number one these days.
And I’d have said that even if Craig Gordon hadn’t been dropped by Brendan Rodgers on Saturday for the Aberdeen game.
Marshy has had to live in the shadows of Craig and Allan McGregor for a while, but this is his time now.
He has always joined up with squads even when he was third in the pecking order and since he’s been given his chance he’s never let Scotland down.
He’s got a move back to the English Premier league with Hull City and I think he’ll be one of the best keepers in that league this season.
Obviously Allan is injured just now but Craig is a quality keeper and he will want to get his Scotland place back.
So it wouldn’t surprise me if he looks for a move away from Celtic in January if Brendan Rodgers keeps picking Dorus de Vries.
At his age he’ll want to play.
It’s one thing being an outfield player who is on the bench, knowing that you’re likely to get your chance to impress as a substitute.
But it’s another thing entirely when you’re a keeper and the only chance is the number one getting injured or sent off.
