Caldwell sets sights on Spain clash

Gary Caldwell has ruled himself out of Scotland's opening Euro 2012 qualifiers but remains hopeful of facing world champions Spain in October. The 28-year-old Wigan defender will miss the start of the new season after undergoing surgery on both hips over the summer.Caldwell has no specific comeback target but is confident of being back in action before Vicente Del Bosque's men visit Hampden Park on October 12.Caldwell said: "It is just a case of taking each day as it comes and making sure I am ready when I come back."I don't think I'll make the first couple - I'll be struggling - but hopefully the Spain and Czech Republic games."I'll be doing my very best to get in the Wigan team first and hopefully back in the Scotland team."The surgeon didn't want to give dates. He said he's had people back in 10 weeks to five months, so somewhere in amongst that."Hopefully it'll be nearer the 10 week side of things."Caldwell joined Wigan from Celtic in January but played in pain in the closing months of the campaign.He was sent off in Wigan's final Barclays Premier League game, an 8-0 thrashing at Chelsea, and had the first of his operations soon after.Caldwell, speaking at a football coaching event in Wigan, organised by Scotland official partners Nationwide Building Society, added: "It was really wear and tear on both hips."It was something I had been playing with for a while and needed done so hopefully I can play next season pain free."It was a hard summer, probably the worst one of my life - on crutches constantly."But I got rid of the crutches yesterday and that is the hard part done now. Now it is up to me to make sure I am ready."Scotland's international season begins with a friendly against Sweden next month before they face Lithuania and Liechtenstein in qualifiers in September.The national team are entering a new era under the management of Craig Levein and Caldwell is confident the Scots can at last make an impact in a major competition.Scotland have not qualified for the finals of a major tournament since 1998 but Caldwell said: "It's great - a new manager, a new approach. Everyone has a clean slate."The first game was really positive, beating the Czech Republic at home. That breeds confidence."Over the years, when we are confident and have a system that suits us, we have shown we can get some good results."We are going in with confidence we can qualify because it has been too long since Scotland played in a major finals."

Source: Team_Talk