Gordon Strachan has said that he does not intend to use Celtic's contingent of regulars in Scotland's friendly with Canada on Wednesday evening.
The Tartan Army play twice during the international break, following up their midweek meeting at Easter Road with a World Cup 2018 qualifier against Slovenia at Hampden Park four days later.
Strachan will rest some of his key players for the visit of Canada in the hope that they will be fit and firing for a crucial qualifier next weekend, with Scotland currently fifth in the Group F standings after four games.
"They have played a lot of games. Broony (Scott Brown) is up to 40 games, Stuart Armstrong has played a lot of games, Kieran Tierney has played every game he could possibly have played in apart from the injury he got, and Craig Gordon has played a lot," he told reporters. "I spoke to a lot of people at Celtic and they are quite happy with that.
"They played on Sunday, they have had a lot of games and they are not part of this build-up. Leigh Griffiths has not had as many games. He could be the exception and probably will see minutes on Wednesday. We are hoping that the side we announce - we might announce it that bit earlier, you never know - will see a side that play with high energy and in attack and do a lot of good things that people like to see.
"It is not easy at this time of the year for everybody, for fans and players. We would like them to come along and give us their support because we need it, we really need it. Everybody needs it. We have had it so far. There is a disappointment with the Scotland fans at the moment. We understand that. But what we have to do over the next couple of games, especially on Sunday, is make them feel better about themselves."
Scotland trail Group F leaders England by six points and are four adrift of weekend opponents Slovenia in second spot.
Daniel Lewis
