Dundee United manager Peter Houston is looking to take a step back from his role as Scotland boss Craig Levein's assistant.
The Arabs are languishing in 10th spot on the Scottish Premier League table with just two wins from 12 outings and Houston feels he needs to put more energy into his club side.
Houston says he will certainly be there when the 2014 World Cup qualifiers begin but will more than likely miss the friendly with Cyprus on November 10.
"I told Craig I will be there for the qualifying games," he said.
"This one is a friendly so I will speak to Craig. I wouldn't like to say more until I've spoken to him."
And Houston said perhaps it is too early in the season to be judging United who lost David Goodwillie to Blackburn Rovers in the summer as well as some other key players.
"We are sitting third bottom now and the table doesn't lie but I would say judge us in May," he added.
"We lost international players and a £2million striker over the summer so it was always going to take time to adjust."
