Macedonia v Scotland preview

Burley: Macedonia test

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George Burley goes into his first competitive game at the helm of Scotland still searching for victory at the fourth time of asking.

Burley, who was confirmed as Alex McLeish's successor in January, takes his troops to Macedonia on Saturday for their opening World Cup qualifier in group nine.

The former Southampton, Hearts, Derby and Ipswich boss has seen his side draw with Croatia and Northern Ireland and lose to the Czech Republic in three friendly fixtures since taking charge.

Saturday's clash in the searing heat of Skopje, where temperatures are expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius, is swiftly followed by another away tie in Iceland, with further, tougher, meetings against Holland and Norway to follow.

Srecko Katanec's Macedonia have a solid recent home record, and have not been beaten on their own patch for 14 months, securing friendly draws against both Poland and Serbia.

They also held England to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford during the Euro 2008 qualification campaign, and defeated Croatia 2-0 in Skopje, although Slaven Bilic's men had already booked their place in the finals at that stage.

Katanec also boasts an impressive pedigree in international management, having guided Slovenia to Euro 2000 and the World Cup in Japan and South Korea two years later.

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Burley knew he would be without captain Barry Ferguson and full-back Alan Hutton through injury before naming his squad, but was then hit by six further withdrawals.

David Marshall, David Weir, Garry O'Connor, Kevin McNaughton, Callum Davidson and Kevin Thomson were all forced to drop out of the initial party with Jamie Langfield, Kirk Broadfoot and Michael Stewart brought in.

To add to Burley's concerns, West Brom midfielder James Morrison is expected to miss out against Macedonia after suffering a knee injury in his club's 0-0 draw with Bolton last weekend.

Celtic's Barry Robson is tipped to come into the starting XI, while stand-in skipper Stephen McManus has recovered from an ankle problem.

Katanec has managed to keep together the bulk of the squad who played together in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

Home favourite Goran Pandev, who has spent most of his career in Italy with Inter Milan and Lazio, is expected to be the main danger for Scotland.