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The expected recovery of Kevin Gallacher from the stomach virus which struck him on the first day of Scotland's World Cup preparations in the USA has not yet taken place.

Yesterday at the team's hotel, manager Craig Brown admitted that the striker had failed so far to respond as quickly as had been anticipated from the treatment he has been receiving.

Indeed, there is now a danger that the Blackburn Rovers' man will not be able to take part in the match against the US in Washington.

That is the game where Brown hoped to come closest to the side which will meet Brazil in the opening World Cup game in France on June 10.

''Kevin has not yet been able to eat anything and he has lost five pounds or so over the past few days,'' said Brown. ''The doctor gave him a couple of injections on Saturday night and we thought that would have helped. However, so far there has been no real improve-ment in his condition.

''We are hoping that he will be able to start some kind of liquid intake later today.

''If he cannot play against the United States on Saturday, then he would be disadvantaged by that because he would not have benefited from the trip over here in regards to match practice.''

Gallacher himself added: ''I feel that I must play against the United States if I want to be in against Brazil, because I have not been able to play in any of the last three warm-up games.

If Gallacher or indeed his manager feels he must miss the Brazil game through lack of match fitness, that could open the door for a return to the fold for Ally McCoist.

Brown had allegedly said that the Rangers player was finished at this level, which he categorically denied and insisted that he was his No.1 replacement striker.

Gallacher added: ''I missed the Denmark game in Glasgow because of injury. Then I was out of the game against Finland in Edinburgh with a viral complaint. And now this has happened.

''I have been trying to take liquids but I cannot keep anything in my stomach at all.

''This has not been the perfect start to the World Cup preparations as far as I am concerned. I know that Darren Jackson said the other day that we could not expect just to turn the key and find form when we went in against Brazil but, in my case, that might have to happen.

''I don't want to miss this game in Washington. It is now very important to me.''

Brown and his medical back-up are monitoring Gallacher's health and hoping that the upset will clear inside the next 48 hours. However, there is little doubt that the weight loss and the lack of training will have affected the player's fitness, and Brown says that he will not risk him in Washington unless he has demonstrated that a full recovery has been made, and that his fitness levels are as high as those of the other players in the group.

It is ironic that a player in this squad should be out because of something he may have eaten because, as Brown stressed, this is a group of players who are conscious of their diet.

The team manager explained: ''Almost all the squad are now into fitness regimes which call for sensible eating habits and extra work in the gym. Some of it has rubbed off from John Collins, who has always been inclined that way, but since his move to France he has almost turned it into a fetish.

''Quite a few of the others have seen how fit John has kept himself and they are working in the same way as he does.

''Kevin Gallacher and Gordon Durie are our only problems, and Gordon is getting daily treatment for his hamstring strain. We would like to have a full squad to choose from because the game against the USA is going to be harder than the one against Colombia.

''The United States had a good qualifying record on the way to the finals, and they beat Brazil recently and we know just how much they have improved over the years.

''I felt from the time the games were arranged that this would be the harder of the two and that's why they were arranged with this match being second on the schedule.

''It allowed us a run out before meeting them.''

However, the priority now is to get Gallacher back to fitness.

His form in the qualifying games was outstanding and his goals carried us through to the finals.