THERE are no plans to send an SOS to Celtic winger James Forrest - even if the hero of Scotland's World Cup victory in Macedonia, Ikechi Anya, has to withdraw with a thigh injury.

Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes has already pulled out of the squad, but boss Gordon Strachan is still waiting anxiously to hear if Anya will join him.

The Watford flyer was the star man last month in Skopje as he scored on his first start for his country. And Strachan hoped the 25-year-old could carry that electrifying form into next Tuesday's final World Cup qualifier against Croatia at Hampden.

But, when the squad join up later today, the fear is Anya will have to withdraw, which could have opened the door for a late call-up for Forrest.

Strachan left the Celtic youngster out of his initial squad as he was aware Forrest was just returning from a month out of action due to a sciatic nerve problem and then a respiratory virus.

The Scotland boss revealed that, if Forrest was back to full fitness by the time the final Group A game came along, he could be invited to join the squad.

Forrest has since made his return as a sub in the Champions League game against Barcelona, and again came off the bench in Saturday's victory over Motherwell.

He replaced Adam Matthews after just 13 minutes, and played for the remainder of the game.

However, despite showing no signs of struggling, Hoops boss Neil Lennon confirmed there were no plans to exercise the option of sending him on international duty.

He said: "I want him not to have a break, as such, but to have a good 10 days of training. That's where we can monitor him, curtail him, get his cardiovascular up to where we want it to be, and just make sure there is no reaction to the hamstring and sciatica."

Forrest's latest problems first appeared when he was playing for Scotland against Belgium on September 6 in the match before they headed to Macedonia.

He was on the road to recovery from that sciatic nerve problem when he was floored by the virus which forced him into hospital for five days.

Forrest missed the opening group stage game in the San Siro, but Lennon is confident that, with careful handling, he will be back to his best for the next Champions League game against Ajax on October 22.

The Hoops boss said: "It is a good time to get him really fit and raring to go for the games coming up.

"We didn't intend to put him on so early or for so long on Saturday, but it was needs must when Adam had to go off.

"James looked a little bit tired near the end, which was understandable. He is not 100 per cent fit, by any stretch of the imagination. But Saturday will have done him the world of good."

Meanwhile, in an attempt to improve the match-sharpness of Amido Balde, the Portuguese striker was an over-age player in Celtic's Under-20 game against Dunfermline last night - and Neil Lennon watched the striker score the first goal in a 2-1 victory for the Hoops. Joe Thomson was also on target.