GEORGE Burley, the Scotland manager, will consider breaking up the frontline partnership of James McFadden and Kenny Miller for the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign after they drew a blank in last night's final warm-up fixture against a Northern Ireland side who played with ten men for the final 33 minutes at Hampden.
Scotland's long wait for a friendly win at the national stadium, which stretches back to the 1-0 defeat of Australia in 1996, continued with the goalless draw against an Irish side only denied victory when substitute goalkeeper Allan McGregor saved D
avid Healy's penalty kick. A frustrated Burley, who has now drawn two and lost one of his first three games in charge of Scotland, had hoped the pairing of McFadden and Miller would deliver the win he wanted ahead of the opening World Cup Group 9 fixtures in Macedonia and Iceland on 6 and 10 September.
Asked whether the strike duo would retain his confidence for those games, he said: "It is something I have to look at. They both worked their socks off and did well at times. We were unfortunate not to get a goal in the second half when James had a point-blank effort saved. If that goes in, we win the game and you say the partnership worked.
"James and Kenny lacked that little bit of a cutting edge up front. When you put a team under pressure at home, you need to put the ball in the net, but we lacked that edge we needed to win the game.
"There is still a lot of work to be done on their partnership, but they work hard. It takes time for any partnership to form. At home, we want to play with two up front and put the opposition under pressure.
"We wanted to have a look at a more positive system at home and it wasn't for the want of trying to attack. It was a good exercise, some parts worked well and others we have to take a look at."
Miller, however, believed the partnership provided enough evidence to suggest it should be retained for the World Cup double header ahead of strike rivals Steven Fletcher, Kris Boyd and David Clarkson.
"We have four or five good strikers in the squad who all bring something different," said Miller.
"James and I had the shirts tonight and I feel it went pretty well. We linked up well and the keeper had a couple of good saves from James. I just hope it can only get better for the World Cup ties."
Burley was more enthusiastic about his last line of defence and admitted that Rangers keeper McGregor, who replaced Craig Gordon at half-time, is now providing a serious challenge to the Sunderland man for the position.
"It is a close call," said Burley. "You are talking about two top class international goalkeepers. We are fortunate to have that. They are both outstanding. Craig Gordon has been terrific for Scotland, Allan McGregor has also proved he is top class and that's a healthy position for us.
"We also have an excellent keeper in David Marshall as further back-up. At this precise moment, Craig is our number one and has not put a foot wrong. But he knows Allan has got another 45 minutes under his belt for Scotland and shown he is also a top keeper."
Burley also saw positives in the midfield performance of Scott Brown and those of a string of second-half substitutes.
"I think Scott is a top international footballer," added Burley. "I thought he was the best player on the park tonight. He can play in a wide or central role in midfield and he was outstanding.
"We wanted a win, but it didn't happen. I was a good workout, though, and we were able to blood a number of players. Darren Barr, Christophe Berra, Kris Commons and Michael Stewart all did well when they came on. It was good to see fresh blood who can do a job for us."
Burley revealed that captain Stephen McManus was replaced at half-time because of a slight hamstring strain, while debutant Kevin Thomson also picked up a minor knock which prompted his withdrawal at the same time. Neither player is expected to miss their club's weekend fixtures.
The full article contains 739 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
