Scotland World Cup squad announcement date confirmed as major injury concern emerges

Steve Clarke will name his Scotland squad for this summer's World Cup next week.

The Tartan Army will discover which players will represent the country in its first appearance at the finals since 1998 when the squad is unveiled on Tuesday, May 19.

Clarke has already submitted 55 names to Fifa for his provisional release list, which will be narrowed down to a final 26-man group for the tournament which takes in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Scotland boss Steve Clarke will announce his World Cup squad next week. | SNS Group

The national team boss revealed last week that he has "more or less" settled on the majority of selections but remains "undecided" over two positions.

The striker department could provide a dilemma after Scotland failed to score during the March defeats to Japan and Ivory Coast. Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams and Lawrence Shankland are near certainties to be selected but other spots could be up for grabs. There is also an injury concern over Middlesbrough's Tommy Conway, who was helped off the pitch in tears after picking up a knock during the Championship play-off semi-final defeat by Southampton on Tuesday night.

Ipswich striker George Hirst has been a recent squad regular while Hull City's Oli McBurnie and Southampton's Ross Stewart are also pushing to be included. Neither have been called up in recent years but have been in prolific form in the Championship this season with McBurnie netting 18 goals and Stewart grabbing eight in his last 16 games. They will square off against each other in the play-off final at Wembley three days after the Scotland squad is named.

Clarke is likely to include veteran goalkeeper Craig Gordon after the 43-year-old returned to training with Hearts this week following a shoulder problem.

Scotland host Curacao in their final home warm-up game at Hampden Park on May 30, before flying out to the USA for a pre-tournament camp in Fort Lauderdale, followed by a final match against Bolivia on June 6 in New Jersey.

Scotland are in Group C and play their opening match against Haiti on June 14 (2am UK time), followed by Morocco five days later (11pm UK time) - both in Boston. Scotland’s final group match is against five-time winners Brazil on June 24 in Miami.