Oliver Burke and Liam Palmer withdraw from Scotland squad

SHEFFIELD UNITED striker Oliver Burke and Sheffield Wednesday defender Liam Palmer have withdrawn from the Scotland squad with injury.
Recent Sheffield United signing Oliver Burke. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage.Recent Sheffield United signing Oliver Burke. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage.
Recent Sheffield United signing Oliver Burke. Picture: Simon Bellis/Sportimage.

Burke, whose performances have been one of the positives of a tough start to the new Premier League season for the Blades following his switch from West Brom, had been preparing for the Tartan Army's forthcoming games with Israel, Slovakia and Czech Republic.

Owls full-back Palmer's withdrawal has also been confirmed.

Palmer, an early substitute in Saturday's draw with QPR at Hillsborough, was taken off at the interval due to a back issue - although manager Garry Monk later stressed that the issue was not serious.

Sheffield United's Chris Basham (left) and Sheffield Wednesday's Liam Palmer battle in the Steel City derby in March 2019. Picture: Simon Cooper/PASheffield United's Chris Basham (left) and Sheffield Wednesday's Liam Palmer battle in the Steel City derby in March 2019. Picture: Simon Cooper/PA
Sheffield United's Chris Basham (left) and Sheffield Wednesday's Liam Palmer battle in the Steel City derby in March 2019. Picture: Simon Cooper/PA
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Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest defender Scott McKenna has also withdrawn from the Scotland squad.

The news comes after the Scottish FA were informed that Stuart Armstrong had returned a positive test for COVID-19.

The midfielder returned a negative test for COVID-19 on arrival at Oriam on Monday but the supplementary UEFA test returned a positive result this morning.

Armstrong will self-isolate for 10 days from the date of the test – Tuesday - and will now be unavailable for the forthcoming international matches.

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All other members of the squad returned negative results. However, the Lothian Health Protection Team have identified two players and two members of the backroom staff as close contacts with Kieran Tierney and Ryan Christie – along with one physiotherapist and one masseur - require to self-isolate for 14 days from Tuesday.