Scotland Set to Be without Armstrong and Brown for Key World Cup 2018 Qualifiers

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has been dealt with a major blow with two players – Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown – ruled out of the games against Slovakia and Slovenia.

Scotland have given themselves a great opportunity to reach the finals of the World Cup. Even though the national team will not be able to secure a top spot at this position, they will be able to aim for a second spot in the group. This will be enough for a play-off place which could potentially see the Scots make an appearance in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. The national team has failed to qualify in the last four editions but there is a strong possibility of seeing the team at the World Cup 2018.

The immense success achieved by Celtic over the last 24 months has been able to transcend into the national team with a number of players from the defending champions now featuring in the Scottish national team. The likes of Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, Craig Gordon, Leigh Griffiths, and many more have been able to translate the Celtic form into the national team.

This has helped the national team come up with an impressive run of form towards the end of this qualification campaign. The team are the same group containing England, Slovakia, and Slovenia. England have a six-point advantage with two matches. Hence, Slovakia and Slovenia will be the realistic targets for Scotland but they will have to win the last two matches without Armstrong and Brown in the team.

"It's unfortunate for both players, unfortunate for us, and obviously for Scotland. We don't think it's overly-serious. It's something that's probably a few weeks. It puts them out of the game tomorrow and the international games," said Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers regarding the availability of the two players.