Charlie Mulgrew, Kevin McDonald and Stephen O'Donnell have pulled out of the Scotland squad for the upcoming double-header.

Skipper Mulgrew missed Blackburn's 1-1 draw with Rotherham, while O'Donnell was sidelined for Kilmarnock's victory at Tynecastle.

McDonald is to miss Fulham's trip to Anfield on Sunday, with a hamstring injury ruling the midfielder out of action.

Killie boss Steve Clarke confirmed he expected O'Donnell to miss out after pulling up short in training.

He added: "Stephen is injured, he got a hamstring injury in training through the week and I would say 99.9 per cent out for Scotland."The withdrawals further curtail manager Alex McLeish's options.

Scotland's current squad of 20 includes just five defenders, three of which prefer to play their football at left-back.

McLeish has also dealt a selection headache in attack, with strikers Steven Naismith and Leigh Griffiths sidelined.

The Scots travel to Albania on November 17, before hosting Israel in a crucial encounter three days later.