Nottingham Forest defender Scott McKenna is said to have withdrawn from international duty due to a knee strain.
The centre-back had played the full 90 minutes in each of Scotland’s victories over Ukraine and Republic of Ireland last week and showed no obvious sign of injury. But on Sunday he pulled out of the national squad, ahead of Tuesday night’s crucial Nations League match against Ukraine in Poland.
McKenna was suffering from a knee strain, according to The Herald. Kieran Tierney also withdrew from the squad at the same time, with Hearts duo Barrie McKay and Stephen Kinglsey called up by boss Steve Clarke to replace them.
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Had he not been ruled out, McKenna would likely have been in the starting XI again for Scotland’s final Group B1 fixture in neutral Krakow, when a draw will see them promoted to League A. It now leaves the Reds sweating on his fitness for next Monday’s crunch clash at Leicester City.
The 25-year-old has been a key figure under Steve Cooper and has played every minute of Forest’s Premier League campaign so far. The Reds will make the trip to the King Power Stadium next week looking to end a run of four successive defeats which has left them in 19th spot.
They have picked up four points from their first seven games back in the top-flight. And they will come up against a Foxes side who are rock-bottom in the table.
Attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White (England Under-21s) and striker Emmanuel Dennis (Nigeria) both withdrew from international duty last week. Defender Moussa Niakhate was named on the bench for Senegal against Bolivia on Saturday, but will not be involved against Iran on Tuesday, saying he is returning to the City Ground early.
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