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Ferguson will play despite injury

05/10/2005

Captain Barry Ferguson will play in Scotland's make or break World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Saturday despite failing to recover fully from a hamstring problem.

The Rangers midfielder limped off during their 5-1 win over Dunfermline last Saturday and was a doubt for the game which Scotland must win to maintain their slim hopes of World Cup qualification.

However, Scotland's assistant manager, Tommy Burns, has insisted that Ferguson will be available for the game at Hampden Park, even though he won't be 100 per cent.

"The big thing in our favour is that he has never opted out and has always put himself forward to play," Burns said.

"So from that point of view, we are optimistic that he is definitely going to play."

Scotland manager Walter Smith, however, is also sweating on the fitness of Wigan's Lee McCulloch, who had a pain-killing injection today for a knee injury.

"I've had the problem since pre-season and I missed the first couple of games for Wigan," McCulloch said.

"I'll give it a couple of days and hopefully it will settle down and by the end of the week I'll be training."

Scotland must win their last two games in group five against Belarus and Slovenia and hope that Norway slip up in both their games to have any chance of going through to the finals in Germany next summer.

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