Neil Lennon believes some Scotland players "need to leave their egos at the door" if the national team is to emerge from its current slump.

The 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Serbia in midweek left the Scots at bottom of Group A with two points from six games and confirmed their absence from the finals in Brazil in 2014.

Celtic manager Lennon today joined in the inquest into the state of Scottish football, after the latest failure to reach a major tournament.

Lennon, a former Northern Ireland international who played under Scotland manager Gordon Strachan at Parkhead, questioned both the desire of modern players and the validity of football academies.

His condemnatory comments were all the more interesting given that the Scottish Football Association, under the guidance of Dutch performance director Mark Wotte, has embarked on a long-term project involving centres of excellence while the Celtic academy is widely recognised as one of the best in Scotland.

"In terms of the national team, some of the players need to leave their egos at the door and sacrifice a little bit more for their country," Lennon said.

"I am not just talking about the hunger at young level, I am talking about the hunger at senior level.

"I think players are comfortable at their clubs and it looks to me like it becomes a bit of a chore rather than a privilege to play for their countries.

"You look at countries like Montenegro and Uruguay, who are smaller, but they have a real hunger and love for playing for their countries.

"Now I am not here to question any player but it just seems to me that there have been sagas over the years when I have been here, of ill-discipline and players walking out of squads and refusing to play for Scotland again.

"That, to me, is a worry.

"You can't be (optimistic) at present, that's the realism of it, although I think they (Scotland) have the right man in charge.

"I think we need to look deeper than the national team. Are we producing players? If not, why not? Because I do believe the talent is there.

"We are more affluent than we were 20 or 30 years ago. I question the hunger, when I look at other players who play for their countries."

Former Celtic skipper Lennon, who started his career at Manchester City, expanded his thoughts on the way youth players are produced both north and south of the border.

"Whether it be a UEFA initiative or clubs decided to bring in the academy system, I am not convinced as a whole that it is the right way to take the game forward," Lennon said.

"Our academy system is thriving but I am talking about Britain as a whole, England as well as Scotland.

"We have had this whole debate for the last three or four days because none of the Home Nations won during the week and we seem to have it time and again when results don't go the way we want.

"Maybe it's time we had a look at that to see if the template needs changing.

"Do we need to look at the coaching, are the kids getting coached in the right way?

"The demise of boys clubs has that had any effect on preventing boys coming through as well, because 20 or 30 years ago Scotland were producing a seam of top-quality players and that has lessened.

"I look at when I was coming through the ranks, it was a different system but it seemed to work.

"I was at Man City and I was cleaning boots and cleaning toilets, it was part of our remit during the day.

"I don't see that as much now. Maybe we should bring that level of discipline back and they may appreciate the game a little bit more when they come through."

In tribute to St Mirren's Scottish Communities League Cup final win over Hearts at Hampden almost a fortnight ago, Celtic will form a guard of honour for the Saints players before Sunday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash in Paisley.

Lennon said: "It is out of respect. I have had it done to myself over the years and it is a nice thing to do.

"They will be quite buoyant after the League Cup win, they will have a vociferous support behind them as well.

"But we have our own targets. We had a great comeback against Aberdeen in our last game, we have started to show what we are capable of and I want to see that from the start on Sunday."

Meanwhile, Celtic skipper Scott Brown had surgery on an abductor problem during the international break and will be out for four to six weeks.

Ahead of Sunday's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with St Mirren in Paisley, the Hoops boss gave an injury update at the club's Lennoxtown training complex.

He said: "Scott Brown had surgery in the break and so he is looking at a month, four to six weeks.

"Thomas Rogne has a hamstring strain and he will out for two to three weeks.

"James Forrest (back) is continuing his rehab at the minute.

"Joe Ledley didn't train today, due to a slight groin strain but will hopefully train tomorrow and Adam Matthews (hamstring) will train on Monday.

"Charlie Mulgrew is fine, he had a tight hamstring before the Serbia game and Gordon Strachan didn't take any chances with him obviously, but he came through training today okay."

Sander Puri could make his St Mirren debut in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Celtic.

The 47-times capped Estonia winger signed before the Scottish Communities League Cup final, but did not make the Hampden squad.

Thomas Reilly, David Barron and Darren McGregor remain on the sidelines, but the latter played 90 minutes for the under-20s in their victory at Motherwell on Thursday as he bids to return from a serious knee injury.

Provisional squad: Samson, Van Zanten, Mair, Goodwin, McAusland, Dummett, Carey, McGowan, Newton, McLean, McGinn, Teale, Thompson, Goncalves, Parkin, Puri, Guy, Adam.