Mixu: Hibs star Fletcher was desperate to play for his country

MIXU PAATELAINEN today jumped to the defence of Steven Fletcher after the Hibs striker became the latest player to pull out of Scotland's friendly against the Czech Republic.

The 21-year-old had been in line to win his second cap in tomorrow night's clash in Prague but was forced to withdraw from George Burley's squad suffering from a chest injury picked up in the final game of the SPL season a week ago.

Fletcher was the sixth star to step down, leaving Burley with only 18 players as the squad flew out today for the former Hearts manager's second game in charge of the national side.

Burley has already warned players they run the risk of putting their international career in jeopardy if they aren't prepared to turn up for games such as tomorrow's but today Paatelainen insisted Fletcher had been desperate to pull on a dark blue jersey again.

He said: "I think the fact Steven had delayed going on holiday in the hope he might be named in this squad shows his great desire to play for his country and that's great.

"He took a bang in the chest against Motherwell last Thursday and had to come off but, with a week to go before the Scotland game, we believed it would have cleared by now.

"The easy thing for Steven to do would have been to call off there and then but he was desperate to play and it's only after being assessed by the Scotland medical team over the past few days that he's been deemed unfit to travel.

"It's very disappointing and I am sure there's no-one more disappointed that Steven. He's just broken into the full squad and he is passionate about his country."

Paatelainen is certain Fletcher's injury isn't overly serious but Hibs' own medical staff will now get to work on diagnosing and treating the problem.

He said: "We thought the injury would have settled by now but Steven is still sore. I don't think it is anything big but we'll obviously do whatever is necessary to restore him to full health."

And Paatelainen insisted he would encourage any of his players to report for international duty. The former Finnish striker said: "I have no problem with players going to play for their country, I think it is a great thing.

"I was fortunate enough to play 70 times for Finland. I was very proud each time I played and I am sure it will be the same for our players."

Burley's squad had already been weakened through the unavailability of players with long-standing injury concerns such as Barry Ferguson, Allan McGregor and Lee McCulloch, but Paatelainen believes simple fatigue at the end of a long season is no excuse for pulling out of an international match.

He said: "I can only speak for myself but I always looked forward to playing for my country, even if it was summer time. But I would be very surprised if any player pulled out just because of a holiday."

Hibs today reminded season ticket holders they have until Monday to renew their seats. The ticket office will be open Saturday (9am to 3pm) and Sunday (10am to 4pm).