Scotland captain Andrew Robertson has moved to dismiss the criticism aimed at the many players who have been forced to withdraw from the national side's Nations League matches this month.
In recent days, Celtic's Kieran Tierney has been forced to leave the Scotland squad due to injury, meaning that manager Alex McLeish is now without nine first team players.
Robertson has since defended his compatriots, by insisting that any call off from Scottish players have been genuine, and not because they would rather use their time for something else.
The Liverpool left back has also insisted that those players that have been forced to reject their call ups or leave the squad prematurely have been left 'devastated' at having to do so.
In an interview with 'Sportsmail' the Scotland captain said: "'It's easy to say things if people call off early doors. Then it's said that every call-off from that point on is not a complete injury. But I can say first hand that they were all devastated not to be on the flight and I know they would have played if they could. Cynics might wonder what's going on with the call offs. I think most people would be guessing."
He continued: "But those of us here have seen how devastated John McGinn was to leave the squad. Kieran Tierney was devastated, too. He wanted to give it a go, but the club and medical staff said it couldn't happen. These are genuine injuries to lads who are devastated at not playing for their country."
Robertson concluded by remaining steadfast in his support for his teammates: "We've just been really unfortunate with injuries but we still have quality within the squad. We still have to believe that whatever team the manager puts out will be strong enough.
16 November 2018
While the nine call offs may have impacted the squad's preparation for this month's crucial Nations League matches, Robertson remained defiant, insisting that the team ahs enough quality to get positive results from both matches.
He added: "We're all positive going into the game. The lads who have called off can't be with us but they will be cheering us on from home. And it's a big enough squad that we can get the result. Now we have to prove it."
Scotland travel to Shkoder to play Albania on Friday, before returning home to Hampden park, where they will face Israel on Tuesday.