Stuart Armstrong faces a race against time to be fit to play for Scotland in the Euros.
Stretchered off playing for Southampton against Cardiff, the midfielder feared a serious injury would kill his hopes of flying to Germany.
As Mail Sport first revealed, however, tests have shown up a thigh muscle injury expected to heal in time for Armstrong to add to the 50th cap he won in last month’s 1-0 defeat by Northern Ireland at Hampden Park.
Southampton’s Stuart Armstrong leaves the pitch on a stretcher during last Saturday’s match
And while the former Celtic and Dundee United midfielder will play no further part in his club’s push for promotion to the English Premier League, boss Russell Martin admits he still has a chance of making the Euros.
‘It’s his quad, it’s a muscle injury,’ Martin told the club website.
‘We’ll do everything we can to get him fit for the Euros for Scotland.
‘I think he has a big chance for that, I don’t think he has any chance of playing for us really.
Armstrong is expected to heal in time to add to the 50th cap he won in last month’s 1-0 defeat by Northern Ireland at Hampden Park
‘He has a big hope of getting in the Scotland squad because he’s been fantastic for them and for us this season and has been in every squad, and I think there’s a realistic chance with the injury he has to be fit for that.
‘So we will do everything we can as a football club to help him get there. It wasn’t as serious as we all feared but it is serious enough to keep him out for a period of time now where he can’t help us unfortunately.’
Scotland’s first match of the tournament is against hosts Germany on June 14. And Steve Clarke has already suffered hammer blows with the loss of Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson and Everton right-back Nathan Patterson.
Mail Sport understands, however, that optimism is rising over a return to fitness for Brentford right-back Aaron Hickey before Clarke names his final 23 man squad on June 7.
The Scots face Gibraltar and Finland before flying to Germany when Hickey hopes to manage some game time.
