Ben Doak in action for Scotland _(Image: SNS)_
Scotland have been dealt a major blow just a fortnight before their Nations League play-off against Greece.
Ben Doak has suffered an injury setback at Middlesbrough, and could potentially miss the rest of the season.
The winger, 19, returned to Liverpool from his loan club recently to undergo surgery - believed to be a minor procedure - on a thigh issue.
It's not been ruled out that Doak will make a return to first-team action for Boro before the season's end in May.
However, with just a few months of the campaign left, it seems unlikely that the Scotland attacker will return in time to play any part in Boro's promotion bid.
It comes as a huge disappointment for Steve Clarke, who gave Doak his debut last year.
The national team head coach is due to announced his Scotland squad for the upcoming international fixtures next week.
Doak hasn't featured for Boro since January after arriving on loan from Liverpool last summer.
He has enjoyed a productive season with thtee goals and seven assists to his name.
The Ayrshire-lad has also become a pivotal player for Scotland since becoming a regular starter last September.
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com