Smith laments loss of Dailly as O’Connor still AWOL

SCOTLAND boss Walter Smith insists the loss of Christian Dailly for the European Championship qualifier in Ukraine will be much harder to overcome than the absence of Garry O’Connor.

A yellow card for time-wasting during the 1-0 win over France at Hampden Park on Saturday means the West Ham defender will miss the match in Kiev.

However, Scotland striker O’Connor chose not to join up with the rest of the squad at the team hotel on Sunday after coming off the bench against the French. The Lokomotiv Moscow forward has not travelled to Ukraine and Smith remains in the dark over his reasons for not linking up with the squad.