McFadden ruled out of Scottish squad

James McFadden has been forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad ahead of their crucial World Cup qualifier against Italy.

The Everton forward has been struggling with back and hamstring problems but was named in the squad for Saturday’s clash at San Siro in the hope that he would recover in time.

The signs did not look promising when McFadden was forced to sit out yesterday’s Merseyside derby, which saw Everton slump to a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Scotland manager Walter Smith has yet to make a decision about whether to draft anyone else into the squad.