Craig Levein has bemoaned Kevin Thomson's bad luck after losing the Middlesbrough midfielder for Scotland's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Liechtenstein next month.
Thomson, who has recovered from two serious knee injuries already in his career, broke his fibula against Leicester at the weekend and is expected to be out of action for six weeks. The Scotland manager sympathised with the former Rangers and Hibernian player.
"I am disappointed for the player as much as I am about the fact he will not be available to us for the double-header," he told www.scottishfa.co.uk.
"Kevin has had some real bad luck with injuries in recent years, some far more serious than this.
"I have no doubt he will come back as good as new but the timing of the injury is especially poor for him because I think he was trying to get back to his best form after accepting a new challenge at Middlesbrough."
Levein, though, believes Scotland will be well-served in the defensive midfield area with Lee McCulloch expected to be fit after a viral infection ruled him out of the 3-0 defeat to Sweden last week.
The former Hearts and Dundee United boss was also impressed by Paul Hartley's goalscoring return to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League at the weekend, converting a hat-trick of penalties in Aberdeen's convincing 4-0 win against Hamilton.
"Paul has never been out of my plans," Levein said. "In fact, the only reason he didn't feature in the Sweden squad was because he didn't have a club.
"Now he is back in the SPL, with new responsibilities at Aberdeen, and as I have said before we do not have too many options in that specialised holding position.
"Both he and Lee McCulloch have adapted to it from being more attack-minded players but they have done so impressively."
Source: PA
