Darren Fletcher is in major doubt for Scotland's Euro2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Saturday.
The Manchester United midfielder has been struck down with a bout of tonsillitis and is no chance of making the second last Group I match but according to Scotland assistant Peter Houston, the national team captain is expected to play some part against World Champions Spain in Alicante on Tuesday.
"Darren hasn't joined us yet because he has tonsillitis and we can't bring him into this environment," he said.
"We only found out yesterday that he wasn't feeling well. Then United contacted us to confirm the illness.
"Craig also spoke to Darren and he wasn't feeling that great.
"We're not sure about the weekend. In terms of the second game with Spain, we are 100 per cent hopeful Darren will make it.
"Hopefully it clears up, but tonsillitis can lie in you for a number of days.
"We don't want Darren up here to assess him because we can't bring him into an environment where it might spread.
"It's got to the stage where Craig will be thinking maybe Darren's not going to be available for Saturday."