Alan Hutton is set to be given a huge vote confidence by Scotland boss Craig Levein when he names his side to face Lithuania tomorrow night.

The Spurs defender has failed to figure for his club this season after returning from a summer hernia operation, though he was included in the 25-man squad registered for Premiership action by boss Harry Redknapp.

However, the lack of action will not deter Levein from pitching Hutton, above, into the opening Euro 2012 qualifier in Kaunas as the national boss believes he is a key figure in the plan he is formulating to get all three points.

Levein will not reveal his starting XI to his players until tonight, but said: “I think everybody would recognise Alan would be our first choice right-back.

“Any time you get a good player fit and available that you didn’t expect to get, then it’s a real bonus.”

After the defensive shambles which saw Scotland lose their warm up match 3-0 in Sweden last month David Weir and Stephen McManus are expected to be brought back in, but it is the availability of Hutton which has really pleased the manager.

Levein said: “There has been an acknowledgement that, in a lot of the games in the last three or four years, Alan has been one of our better players.”

The left-back slot is proving more difficult to fill. Hearts’ Lee Wallace withdrew with injury and Barnsley full-back Jay McEveley was drafted in, but Levein could switch Rangers’ Steven Whittaker across to the left, while his Ibrox team-mate Kirk Broadfoot is also in contention.

The manager said: “There could be six, seven, eight changes between the Sweden game and this game, with guys coming back in and me adding a couple as well.”