SCOTS ADJUST TO FERGUSON ABSENCE

Burley - will pair McFadden and Miller.

Stand-in skipper Stephen McManus is optimistic Scotland can cope without regular captain Barry Ferguson as he feels midfield is his country's strongest position.

McManus will lead the hosts out in Wednesday night's friendly against Northern Ireland as Ferguson recovers from ankle surgery.

The Rangers midfielder is likely to miss the first three of his country's World Cup qualifiers, against Macedonia and Iceland next month, and at home to Norway in October.

Manager George Burley is looking for players such as Darren Fletcher to compensate for his absence and McManus agrees Scotland are well covered in Ferguson's position.

"He's an important player for us, he has proved that over the years," the defender said.

"But, like the manager says, we have got very good players to come in.

"If there is one position in the squad that you can afford to lose somebody, it would be in the midfield. Scott Brown is there as well."

Injury has also deprived McManus of regular defensive partner Gary Caldwell but the Celtic centre-back believes replacement David Weir's experience will help the World Cup preparations.

Weir was drafted in by Burley for the first time after Caldwell pulled out of tomorrow's friendly with a thigh injury.

"It's great you can call on someone like Davie Weir," McManus said.

"He has bags of experience and it's always a pleasure to play beside him.

"It's important we get a good win and it's also important we get a good performance going into the two big games.

"It all kicks off in a couple of weeks' time in Macedonia, so we will be looking for a good performance."

McManus has helped Celtic reach the last 16 of the Champions League for two years running but he believes qualifying for the World Cup would be a greater achievement.

"As a player, you want to play on the biggest stage and they don't come any bigger than the World Cup," the 25-year-old said.

"We are lucky we have a few players playing Champions League and have quite a lot of experience but the World Cup is another notch up and that's where we want to play.

"The last campaign was a very good one for us, but we still didn't qualify. We are still realistic about that.

"It gave us great experience and belief playing against the French, Italians and Ukrainians. For this campaign, it has given us a lot of confidence.

"It's hard at international level to get into a rhythm because you are not playing as regularly as you would like, but you just need to deal with that."

McManus will be up against the top scorer of the European Championship qualifiers, David Healy, who netted 13 times for Northern Ireland.

The 25-year-old is looking forward to the test but he also believes Scotland will benefit from having their first-choice strike partnership, Kenny Miller and James McFadden, starting a game together for the first time under Burley's management.

McManus said: "It's a challenge, we have players like that as well. Kenny and Faddy are two guys off the top of my head who have scored a lot of goals at international level.

"That is always the hardest part of international football, creating chances and scoring goals. We are fortunate we have two guys that can do it."

McManus believes Nigel Worthington's side are a good test ahead of the qualifiers, but he approaches every international the same way.

"They have done well in the last few years, but in international football there are no easy games," McManus said.

"As a country, we are a good side but we are not a great side.

"It's important to know you don't get anything easy in these games.

"Whether it's a friendly or a qualifier, you need to work very, very hard. It's certainly a game we want to win."