'Not a quick turnaround' - Major Scotland blow as regular starter ruled out of Nations League play-off

Steve Clarke's side are bidding to retain their League A status after avoiding automatic relegation to League B by virtue of Andy Robertson's dramatic injury-time winner against Poland in November.

Lyndon Dykes started that 2-1 victory in Warsaw, earning his 42nd cap as he edges closer to Hall of Fame territory. However, the Birmingham City striker will be absent from the two-legged clash against the Greeks after suffering a calf injury.

Dykes was forced off during his side's goalless draw with Reading on Saturday and Blues manager Chris Davies has confirmed that the 29-year-old faces up to two months on the sidelines.

It is a major blow for the player who last week scored the winning goal in the FA Trophy final victory over Bradford which booked Birmingham a date at Wembley on April 13 - a game he also now looks set to miss.

The news will also come as a setback for Scotland head coach Clarke who regularly turns to Dykes to lead the line with one of Che Adams, Lawrence Shankland or Tommy Conway now likely to start against Greece.

Confirming the extent of Dykes' injury, Davies said: “Hopefully we can see him before the end of this season.

“I would call it a medium term injury, not a quick turnaround but there’s definitely a route back for him to get back before the end of this season and contribute. We’ll miss him. I don’t know whether the cup final [April 13] might come too soon.

“I’m not qualified to give that definitive answer but it sounds like the cup final might come too soon. Even after the cup final, there’s probably five league games so can he get back and help us in that period would be the question.”

Scotland also have a concern over Ryan Christie after the Bournemouth midfielder was forced off during his side's 2-1 defeat at Brighton in the English Premier League on Tuesday night.

The former Celtic man was forced to leave the pitch after just 26 minutes with Cherries head coach Andoni Iraola revealing the 27-year-old has been dealing with a groin issue throughout the season.

“We’ve missed Illia [Zabarnyi] and Ryan Christie,” Iraola admitted following the game. “They give us a high level and it is difficult to replace this high level. He [Christie] felt something in the groin. He is having some issues within the season, and he has been dealing with these issues. Today though, he felt something different and we will assess him."

On a more positive note, Scotland are set to receive a boost over the fitness of Ben Doak. The 19-year-old is currently on loan to Championship promotion chasers Middlesbrough from Liverpool, but has missed the last five games with a troublesome thigh injury.

The pacey winger has started the past four matches for Scotland and has impressed, bringing a new dimension to the attack.

Boro boss Michael Carrick expects to see Doak back in training next week. "We’re hoping that Ben will be in and around it in terms of training next week," he said. "We don’t want to put too much of a deadline on that. Everyone’s waiting to see when he’s fit, I get that, but we’ll have to wait and see. He’s not too far away now, so that’s good.”

Scotland travel to Greece for the first leg of the Nations League play-off on March 20 with the secong leg taking place at Hampden Park three days later on March 23.