Sebastien Pocognoli had already injected some youth into the Scotland squad for his debut in international football – and he has done so again after losing two more of his most experienced players for their opening four Nations League fixtures.

Scott McTominay was obviously a notable miss from the Belgian head coach’s original selection, the 29-year-old Napoli midfielder having to undergo what he described as minor heart surgery that should only keep him sidelined for a few weeks.

Rangers’ Lawrence Shankland and Torino’s Che Adams were also absentees from the frontline options through injury and now Norwich City midfielder Kenny McLean and Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney have followed.

With 22-year-old uncapped Blackburn Rovers midfielder Kristi Montgomery named as the only replacement, how is the squad shaping up after their latest round of club games?

The goalkeeping position was a problem for some time under predecessor Steve Clarke, exacerbated by 84-cap Craig Gordon coming to the end of his career and with playing time often limited for the alternatives.

But current first-choice Angus Gunn is now a regular starter with San Jose Earthquakes after his summer switch from Nottingham Forest.

Scott Bain is also performing well for Falkirk, while Jon McCracken has helped Bradford City to the top of League One after his move from Dundee, making Rangers’ Liam Kelly the only goalkeeper not playing for his club.

The absence of Shankland and Adams gave Pocognoli the opportunity to bring in some fresh blood among the forwards, and the recalled Oli McBurnie continues to start for Hull City on their return to the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Robbie Ure was back in the starting line-up for new club Sevilla as they lost 3-1 to La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday, while James Wilson has cemented a first-team place since returning to Heart of Midlothian from his loan to Tottenham Hotspur.

In saying that, striker Kieron Bowie and wingers Findlay Curtis and Ben Gannon-Doak had to make do with being substitutes over the weekend for Sassuolo, Rangers and Bournemouth respectively.

While 20-year-old Gannon-Doak’s continued lack of minutes is not ideal considering he has proved to be a key provider of pace to Scotland’s play, club-mate Ryan Christie will have received a boost by being handed only his second start of the season, albeit the midfielder came off after 75 minutes of a 1-0 home defeat by Liverpool.

Indeed, all seven of Pocognoli’s original central midfield picks started at the weekend, only for McLean to pick up a knock while playing the full 90 minutes captaining his side in their 4-3 defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers.

His somewhat left-field replacement, Scotland Under-21 cap Montgomery, came through the whole of his Championship game – a 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers against Portsmouth.

Billy Gilmour scored only his second senior goal with a fine strike in Napoli’s 1-1 draw at Fiorentina, as well as being named man of the match.

Meanwhile, also in Serie A, Lennon Miller started for the third time this season in Udinese’s 1-0 home defeat by Cagliari and Lewis Ferguson is back starting every game as Bologna captain, including their 1-1 draw with Torino.

For visitors Torino, Nathan Patterson made his second appearance as a substitute since his loan move from Everton as right-back continues to be a problem area for Scotland.

Aaron Hickey also had to make do with coming off the bench in Brentford’s fine 3-0 win over Chelsea.

Colby Donovan did start again for Celtic, albeit as the Scottish champions suffered a third straight defeat, while all three left-backs – Donovan’s club-mate Tierney, Tottenham Hotspur’s Andy Robertson and Sassuolo’s Josh Doig suffered losses after starting, with the former once again being unlucky with injury.

Only Scott McKenna – an unused sub as Croatian league leaders Dinamo Zagreb beat Lokomotiva – did not play in his club side’s latest game among Pocognoli’s defensive options.

With Gilmour the only weekend goalscorer and Robertson and Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn providing an assist each in Spurs’ 3-2 defeat, Pocognoli could look to that experienced trio to provide the creative spark for the Nations League matches starting away to Slovenia on Saturday.