Captain Darren Fletcher is almost certainly out of Scotland's penultimate Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein on Saturday after going down with tonsillitis.

The Manchester United player effectively has been put in quarantine by the SFA and was told to stay at home rather than join the squad at its Renfrewshire hotel and risk passing the virus on to other players.

If the midfielder recovers, he will fly directly to Spain on his own before Tuesday's final qualifier, although it is possible he could miss both games.

The news emerged as Celtic revealed Scott Brown – who injured his right ankle during Scotland's friendly against Denmark in August – will require minor surgery and be out for another eight to 10 weeks. That will rule Brown out even if Scotland make the Euro 2012 play-offs in November.

In the short-term, Kenny Miller will be assessed on an ongoing basis this week but it looks as though he, too, will miss the game in Liechtenstein although he should be fine for the match against Spain.

Robert Snodgrass has already lost the fight to recover from an ankle injury and was today replaced by Wigan's James McArthur.

The news about Fletcher's problem came as a shock to manager Craig Levein and his backroom team.

"Darren hasn't joined us yet because he has tonsillitis," said assistant coach Peter Houston. "We can't bring him into this environment. Our doctor is in constant contact with the Manchester United doctor. At this moment in time we are not sure about him for this weekend.

"In terms of the second game, we are 100% hopeful. But tonsillitis can lie in you for a number of days.

"We certainly don't want him up here to assess him because we can't bring him into an environment where it might spread.

"It's getting to the stage where Craig will be thinking maybe Darren's not going to be available. But it's not for me to say.

"I still hope he is available for Saturday and I'm sure Craig feels the same. But the longer the week goes on, the more Craig has to think about shaping a team to beat Liechtenstein, because, if we don't do that, the second game might not matter."

A scan revealed Miller has a tiny muscle tear. "He'll almost certainly be fit for Tuesday," said Houston. "But there is clearly a doubt about him for this weekend."

Alan Hutton missed training yesterday with a knee problem, but should be available for Liechtenstein.