Scotland coach George Burley has assured club bosses they need not be worried about players making an 11,000-mile round trip to Japan for a friendly. Burley sees the clash in Yokohama on October 10 as a crucial exercise in ensuring the continued development of his squad.

"I think it's going to be a great test for us," Burley said. "It's a great opportunity to go over there and pit their wits against a top nation.

"We have quite a few youngsters but I'm looking to build, I'm looking to progress.

"We only have one game. I could have played two games but decided I only wanted one game.

"We fly out on the Wednesday and we are back at 5 o'clock on the Sunday so they have a full week to recover for the clubs.

"I think that was important, to give them time to get over jet-lag for their following weekend programmes. I don't see a problem at all."

He said: "It's easy to have a training camp but I want the team to be tested, I want us to have something to go for and I want us to win games.

"It's a challenge going across to Japan. We want to put in a good performance, have a look at one or two players, try to develop the squad from the Holland game and try to win the match.

"I would rather that type of challenge than sitting on my bum in a hotel, that's for sure."