Scotland may have to play five games for Scotland, including two EURO2012 qualifying games, without the services of Wigan's Gary Caldwell as he needs double hip surgery. He has already been under the knife last week as surgeons dealt with his left hip and will return in two months for the same procedure on his right hip.
The former Celtic defender said: "Experts say I'll be out for between three and five months. Hopefully, the right hip won't be as bad as the left hip and I can push towards being out for just three months. It all depends on how quickly my body heals. I will definitely miss the start of the season with Wigan as well as Scotland's friendly against Sweden in August. I'll also miss our opening two European Championship qualifiers against Lithuania and Liechtenstein at the start of September. It will be touch and go for our next double header away to the Czech Republic and at home to Spain in October. I'm hoping to be back playing for Wigan by then, so who knows? If I hit the ground running I might just be in contention for those crucial two qualifiers. It's not an ideal start to the new season but I thought it was better to get the work done during the summer so I could finally put my hip problems behind me after a frustrating year."
Scotland may have to play five games for Scotland, including two EURO2012 qualifying games, without the services of Wigan's Gary Caldwell as he needs double hip surgery. He has already been under the knife last week as surgeons dealt with his left hip and will return in two months for the same procedure on his right hip.