Callum McGregor is to captain Scotland in their Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan after Kieran Tierney was ruled out of the match.

Tierney's absence comes as a further blow to Alex McLeish's plans after Liverpool's Andy Robertson missed the trip with a dental problem.

Though he returned to action for Celtic last week after a spell out with a long-standing pelvic problem, Tierney did not take part in an indoor training session on a plastic pitch in Astana on Tuesday as a precaution.

However, he will also miss team training at the Astana Arena, which also has a synthetic surface ahead of the game and he will not feature in the campaign opener on Thursday. He is expected to return for the match against San Marino on Sunday.

It has already been confirmed that Calum Paterson and Ryan Fraser won't play in the Kazakhstan match because of the playing surface, limiting McLeish's options.

In Tierney's absence, his Celtic team-mate McGregor will captain Scotland for the first time. The midfielder earned the first of his nine caps in 2017.

Scotland manager Alex McLeish said: "Kieran has been ruled out of this game. We did a medical on him and he had a scan and he can't be risked at this stage."

"Over the past few years Callum has shown tremendous ability on the field but also he is a very good ambassador of football on and off the pitch. An unfussy player, nothing seems to bother him.

"He is a great example to the rest of the squad in his professionalism and I believe the players will respond to Callum being the skipper for this one."