SMITH UNHAPPY WITH WEBSTER IN LIMBO

Walter Smith has ordered Hearts defender Andy Webster to get his transfer dispute with the club resolved - or face being frozen out of Scotland's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

The 24-year-old centre-half has decided to leave Tynecastle after falling out with owner Vladimir Romanov and plans to invoke Article 17 of FIFA's transfer rulings, which allow players in the third year of a four-year deal to leave for the remaining value of their contract, and join Premiership side Wigan.

Webster last played for the Jambos in April and was left out of the Scottish Cup final in May.

The former Arbroath player has signed an agreement to join Wigan but both the player, Hearts and the English club are waiting for FIFA to give a definitive answer on when he can make the switch and how much compensation must be paid.

With Scotland playing their first European qualifier against the Faroe Islands on September 2, Smith has revealed Webster is running out of time to stake a claim. He said: "He needs to get his situation resolved for the sake of his career and all I can do at the moment is react to what is happening.

"If he isn't playing football or getting any training done, it is not going to be possible for him to play in two or three weeks.

"It is a fairly straightforward situation which needs to change. He has been training by himself and has been in at his club occasionally.

"That is not an ideal situation for anybody, for Hearts, Andy Webster or Scotland. The sooner it is resolved, the better.

"Even if he were to move now, he would still be a couple of weeks or so from being fit to play."

Meanwhile, Rangers striker Kris Boyd has revealed that he has been using Scotland's get-together to pick the brains of former Ibrox forward Ally McCoist.

The squad have been assembled in St Andrews for a two-day training camp as an alternative to playing a friendly and Boyd, who has been left on the bench by new Gers boss Paul le Guen, is glad to be back among his international team-mates.

The 22-year-old scored two goals as the Scots lifted the Kirin Cup in the summer and is certain to be at the centre of Smith's plans for the future.

With World Cup finalists France and Italy in the qualifying group Scotland could not get a more arduous path to the finals but after chatting to Euro 96 veteran McCoist, Boyd is upbeat about the nation's chances.

He said: "I spoke to Ally McCoist for a bit last night, he told me to get my head down and the chances will come at club and international level.

"It's going to be a difficult campaign but if we get a couple of good results early on then who knows what will happen?

"You can only give it your best shot. Hopefully that will be good enough to keep us in contention right up to the last few games but we're not taking anything for granted.

"It is a very tough group but while we respect the teams we're up against we won't fear them."

Boyd added: "This could be a big campaign for us because we need to get the ranking back up again. We've slipped down in recent years so the groups are getting more and more difficult but if we put up a good show that can quickly change."

Taken from sportinglife.com