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CRAIG BROWN'S World Cup woes increased yesterday when he lost a third player from his Scotland line-up for Tuesday's vital clash with Morocco in St Etienne.
Brown had already been forced to rule out Tottenham defender Colin Calderwood with a broken hand and Celtic midfielder Darren Jackson through suspension when he was hit by a new blow. Blackburn's Billy McKinlay has now been added to the absentees, after missing two days training with an abdomen strain.
It will limit our options if McKinlay is out, admitted Brown. I will have to re-think my plans. My job is to pick what I believe is the best Scotland team.
McKinlay was earmarked for a man-marking role on the dangerous Mustafa El Hadji, who stunned Norway with a brilliant goal during the Moroccans' opening game. Now that role is likely to go to Celtic's Paul Lambert, with Brown reshuffling elsewhere.
Celtic captain Craig Burley will probably revert to midfield from right wing-back where Jackie McNamara, an impressive substitute against Norway, will almost certainly continue.
Meanwhile, Jackson will attempt to stonewall the effects of his ban by joining team-mates on the bench for Scotland's make-or-break confrontation. The suspended Celtic midfielder fears he could be banished to the stand in St Etienne after being booked in the defeat by Brazil and the draw against Norway.
But Jackson quipped: "I'm going to try to sneak onto the bench and hope nobody notices! It's bad enough missing the game, but if I can't be with the other members of the squad then that's even harder to take. I'm very disappointed to miss out. I played 24 games for Scotland before the finals without a yellow card, then I get two in two games.
Jackson is confident Scotland can emerge as the first Tartan Army to survive phase one. He added: "The squad is big enough and good enough to cope with my absence and Colin Calderwood's. It goes without saying that I'll be cheering Scotland as loudly as anyone. If we go through to the next stage, I'll have a chance of playing again, as the first round bookings are wiped out."
Victory is essential if Brown is to take Scotland into the second phase of the World Cup finals for the first time. Morocco also await their first win having twice conceded the lead in a 2-2 draw with Norway before a morale-sapping 3-0 defeat by Brazil.
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SAUDI COACH FIRST
TO GET PUSH
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CARLOS ALBERTO PARREIRA has become the first coach to pay the price of World Cup failure.
Parreira was sacked by Saudi Arabia following their elimination from the tournament after defeats by Denmark (0-1) and France(0-4). The Saudis seemed to be emerging as a genuine world force at USA 94, when they produced the goal of the tournament, but showed few signs of building on that promise in France where they became the first nation to be knocked out.
Parreira started the competition with a unique advantage over his rivals. He was the first coach to take charge of four different nations in the finals, having previously headed World Cup bids by Kuwait(1982), United Arab Emirates(1990) and Brazil, the 1994 champions.
Meanwhile, World Cup boss Michel Platini has called for a pool of professional referees to handle important internationals. The President of the World Cup Organising Committee admitted refereeing standards during the competition have been "inconsistent" and insisted matters could be improved by establishing an elite international group of officials.
"At World Cup level you have to be frank and concede that you need the very best referees, even if it means some smaller nations not sending one," said Platini.
"I would like to see a pool of professional referees set up to handle top international matches. The inconsistency here has been exasperating. One moment referees don't hand out enough cards and the next they hand out too many. But you have to protect forwards all the time."
One idea being discussed in influential circles is the possibility of assisting World Cup referees by the use of video replays.
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News 2 
