Barry Ferguson has explained turning down Scotland.
The Birmingham City midfielder informed Craig Levein of his decision yesterday, three days before the national coach names his squad for the ties in Prague on October 8, and the game against the world and European champions four days later at Hampden.
Ferguson told The Herald: "I answered honestly about how I felt watching the team, if it still hurt and so on. I said you can never close the door on anything in life, and that you never know what's around the corner. I know that only too well after the way my life has developed in the past 18 months or so.
"But I think people maybe jumped the gun a bit. Sure, I was thinking things over but the factors that led me to make my decision in the summer remained. Then there was the reaction to what I said last week. It was already turning into a circus. I thought to myself 'Can you imagine what this will be like if I did decide to go back?'
"That is the last thing the Scotland team needs. They have two massive games coming up and need no distractions or side-shows. It would have been about me, when the team is the most important thing. It's just not the best move for either party."
Ferguson's fear of the glare on him detracting from the ties against the Czechs and Spaniards only compounded the other main components that formed his decision.
"I commute up and down from the Midlands three or four times a week; my family have remained here and they are the most important thing in my life," he added. "When I moved to Birmingham, playing for Scotland was never going to be an option.
"While my family will support me in everything I do, I have a responsibility to them as well. I would never put them second to anything to do with football.
"Also, I turn 33 years old in February. I am playing in the English Premier League for Birmingham City in a very tough division, and I want to be able to operate as well as I can for a club who took a chance on me last year."
