Vogts insisted that there was no fall-out between himself and Rangers after Ferguson withdrew despite playing against Aberdeen on Saturday.

The German usually prefers to decide his team as early as possible but admitted he will have to delay finalising his side.

"Paul Devlin, Christian Dailly and Kevin Kyle were all involved yesterday and I will begin building up the team after the training session tonight," he said on Monday afternoon.

But Ferguson was excused from international duty after a telephone conversation with the German hours before the squad's departure.

Vogts insisted: "It is not a disappointment for me - but, maybe, it is for Barry Ferguson.

"He needs international matches, but he is injured, so what can we do?

"He phoned and told me he felt pain throughout the game and had to take pills.

"But I'm very happy to be playing one of the best individual teams in the world with players like Rui Costa, Luis Figo and Conceicao.

"It is a big opportunity for my team and we are forward to the next step for Scotland."

Rangers manager Alex McLeish said: "I wanted to liaise with Berti on this decision because Barry is an important player for both of us.

"It's not an ideal situation with Barry right now and I'm glad that Berti and I have been able to talk about this.

"Barry is desperate to play for Scotland. If this had been a European qualifier then he might well have tried to force himself through it."

Ferguson is likely to undergo an operation before the end of January in an attempt to cure the persistent problem.

Meanwhile, Dickov was injured during Leicester City's 2-2 draw at Millwall on Saturday.

Vogts' striking options are now limited, Dundee United striker Steven Thompson having already pulled out after missing Saturday's defeat of Motherwell.

Dunfermline's Stevie Crawford will most likely be joined up front by either Sunderland's Kevin Kyle or Scott Dobie of W.B.A.

Newcastle United defender Stephen Caldwell had earlier been called in to replace Middlesbrough's Robbie Stockdale.

Caldwell had previously been capped by Craig Brown two years ago.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Football Association have signed a �500,000 extension to their sponsorship deal with Nationwide Building Society.