James McFadden rules out Scotland call-up

James McFadden has said that he will not be called up to Scotland's squad to face Croatia next month.

The striker has been playing regular football since joining Motherwell earlier this year, after quiet spells with Everton and Sunderland.

However, the 30-year-old told BBC Sport: "I won't be in the Scotland squad for the Croatia game. I've spoken to the manager. He says I've missed a lot of football and he doesn't want to put too much pressure on me to play in the game.

"He wants me to get a good pre-season and then maybe I'll come into the reckoning after that. He let me know that if I was playing well I'd be in consideration for the squad, that was about it.

"I can understand where he's coming from but at the same time I'm disappointed, I want to play as soon as I can. As I said the last time, if he asked me to play now I'd be able to play."

McFadden has won 48 caps for Scotland, but has not played for his country since September 2010.