Scotland boss Steve Clarke turns to Steven Naismith for a ‘short-term fix’ after Austin MacPhee tests positive

However, the 41-year-old, who is now set-piece coach at Premier League club Aston Villa, returned a positive coronavirus test on Saturday evening and is self-isolating after displaying symptoms.

Clarke has asked Naismith, the 51-times capped forward who became player development manager at Hearts after retiring from playing in the summer, to be a “short-term fix” for the forthcoming Group F games. 

“I don’t have Austin in the camp,” he said. “One of the ideas of bringing Austin in is to start a process, and it is not going to be an overnight process, to improve the set plays for and against.

“Austin is out for the three games. He only tested positive on Saturday after the Villa game. He tested after the game and unfortunately Austin came up with a positive. And he has shown symptoms as well so he is in isolation. We wish him well. He will join up with us in October.

“Obviously, I don’t have Austin in this camp so John Carver and myself have called Steven Naismith up to give me another pair of eyes on the training pitch. It is just a short-term fix to cover for the loss of Austin.”

Villa midfielder John McGinn and Rangers right back Nathan Patterson, who have both been ruled out of the Denmark game in Copenhagen tomorrow night by Covid, will join up with Scotland squad on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Celtic duo James Forrest and Greg Taylor will not be involved in the three games after picking up injuries.

However, Clarke is confident he still has the strength in depth he needs in his squad to cope with the losses of the quartet and has opted not to draft any replacements in ahead of the Denmark match. 

“I decided not to make any call-ups, mainly because we had a really short time scale to get them here and have them Covid-tested before we fly to Denmark,” he said. “I’m happy with the squad as it is; we have enough to cover all the positions.

“We’ll be a bit light. But Nathan Patterson and John McGinn will be able to join us on Thursday, which is a plus. The information I have is that they will end their isolation on Wednesday – when we’re still in Denmark – but they’ll meet us here for training the following morning.

“Stephen O’Donnell has missed a few games for Motherwell through illness, but he’s fine. He’s fully fit and he trained on Saturday instead of playing: he’ll train again today and tomorrow and he’s good to go.

“There’s enough cover within the squad at right-back. I’ve used Ryan Fraser in that position before and both Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson have also played on the right.

“We’re well covered for that one game so rather than call someone up to sit on the bench and not be involved, we’ll go with what we have. Kieran’s recovered from his knock at the weekend – everyone who’s reported is fit and ready to play, which is good.”