Scotland WILL face Colombia at Giants Stadium in New Jersey tonight without their most prolific striker Kevin Gallacher.

The Blackburn Rovers forward, who scored six goals in the last five qualifiers that took the side to the World Cup finals, awoke yesterday with a virus that caused sickness and shivering.

"He is out of contention for a starting place," said the manager Craig Brown, "but we are hoping he may have recovered in time for a place on the bench.

Brown's starting line-up contains most of the players who will face Brazil in the World Cup opener on June 10th but he insisted that they would not necessarily adopt the shape or formation that will be used at the Stade de France.

Celtic's Craig Burley has been granted his wish to play in central midfield though he is likely to revert to right wing-back for the Brazil game.

Jackie McNamara, Burley's club-mate, comes in at wing-back on the right with Christian Dailly of Derby on the left and another Celtic player, Tom Boyd, moving to Dailly's normal beat in central defence.

Colombia, who have not changed much since the 1994 World Cup, are still controlled from midfield by Carlos Valderrama. Faustino Asprilla is expected to lead the attack.

Scotland: Sullivan (Wimbledon), Calderwood (Tottenham), Hendry (Blackburn), Dailly (Derby), Boyd (Celtic); Burley (Celtic), McNamara (Celtic), Lambert (Celtic), Collins (Monaco); Durie (Rangers), Jackson (Celtic).

Colombia (probable): Cordoba; Bermudez, I Cordoba, Mendoza, Galeano; Serna, Valderrama, Rincon, Perez; De Avila, Asprilla.

A friendly match between Romania and Northern Ireland, scheduled for Bucharest next Friday has been cancelled, the Romanian Football Federation said yesterday. The match was reportedly called off after the two federations failed to reach a financial agreement.