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Gary Caldwell named as captain for Scotland's friendly with Slovenia

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• Wigan defender to lead Scotland for first time
• Celtic's Charlie Mulgrew will win his first cap

Gary Caldwell will lead Scotland out for the first time in Wednesday's friendly against Slovenia. The Wigan defender has been named captain in the absence of Darren Fletcher after the manager, Craig Levein, decided to rest Kenny Miller from the start.

Celtic's Charlie Mulgrew will win his first cap while Bristol City's Richard Foster was added to the squad after Alan Hutton became the fourth player to pull out.

Caldwell will win his 47th cap in the international in Koper."I've never started the game as captain," he said. "Obviously Fletch is the captain and Kenny is the vice-captain so it is an honour to get it, but they are obviously the men in possession and I am 100% behind them. But to get it for one night will be special."

Levein revealed the versatile Mulgrew would play at full-back. "Charlie will play left-back," Levein said at Glasgow Airport. ". He would have been in the squad in November in Cyprus but he was injured. He was gutted that he couldn't make it. He is playing out of his skin, he has improved enormously." Miller will not start after the Cardiff manager, Malky Mackay, asked Levein to use the 32-year-old sparingly following the club's Carling Cup final penalty shoot-out defeat by Liverpool.

"Kenny will be on the bench but the manager has named a team that will be very, very competitive from the first whistle," the coach, Kenny Black, said. "There will be an opportunity for lads to maybe get part of the game.

"Kenny is desperate to play but you saw the game on Sunday, the cup final, and we just felt it would be better having Kenny as back-up. Craig Mackail-Smith will play up front."

Levein has not publicly revealed his full team but Wigan James McArthur will start after being called into the squad on Sunday. The full-back Foster, 26, came in after Aston Villa's Hutton succumbed to a hamstring injury.

The Celtic midfielder Scott Brown (groin), the Blackpool winger Matt Phillips (hamstring) and the Sunderland full-back Phil Bardsley (calf) had withdrawn previously.

Slovenia were chosen as opponents in light of Scotland being drawn against Serbia, Croatia and Macedonia in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.


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