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Former Celtic midfielder Charlie Mulgrew’s hopes of earning a Scotland recall next month have been dealt a blow after he picked up a calf injury on his Blackburn Rovers debut.
The 30-year-old has been sent for a scan but Rovers manager Owen Coyle expects Mulgrew to be sidelined for at least a fortnight.
Mulgrew was forced off just 34 minutes into his maiden appearance for the Ewood Park side in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers.
As well as missing club matches, Mulgrew faces a race against time to prove he should be included in the Scotland squad for the October 8 and 11 double header against Lithuania and Slovakia.
The versatile player was overlooked by national team manager Gordon Strachan for the opening World Cup qualifier group victory over Malta on September 4, having only joined Rovers four days earlier.
Blackburn manager Coyle said: “He’s damaged his calf and I think it is fair to say that he won’t be available for the next few games over the next couple of weeks, we’ll just have to wait and see what the diagnosis is.
“It is a huge frustration because we saw during the period that Charlie was on the quality that he can bring to the team. Moving forward, we know he’s going to be a wonderful player for the club
“It is frustrating for all of us because we know he’s going to have a huge impact in the team when he is able to play game after game.
“So we’ll just have to wait and see what the length of the period of recovery is and make sure when he comes in he is ready for a sustained period.”
