International round-up: Scotland recall for Celtic's Commons

Celtic midfielder Kris Commons has won a Scotland recall after Robert Snodgrass and Jordan Rhodes pulled out of the squad to face Wales and Belgium.

Commons was a controversial exclusion for the World Cup double header after being one of Celtic's best players this season.

But the 29-year-old, who last played for Scotland in a friendly defeat by Brazil in March 2011, has been drafted in after Norwich winger Snodgrass and Blackburn Rovers striker Rhodes were unable to recover from ankle injuries.

Marco Tardelli insists the Republic of Ireland will set out determined to beat Germany to boost their hopes of World Cup qualification.

Giovanni Trapattoni's injury-hit side could well be forgiven for heading into Friday night's showdown at the Aviva Stadium intent only on making life difficult for Joachim Löw's side and emerging with a valuable Group C point.

However, assistant manager Tardelli is adamant they will adopt an attacking approach. Asked if his side would be happy with a point, the Italian said: "We will try to win, it's normal for us. If we can win against Germany, it will be important for the team and for the country."

Löw has been hit by the withdrawals of Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Lars Bender from the squad he initially named with Julian Draxler also unavailable due to a broken arm.

However, Trapattoni's problems are even more severe with Richard Dunne, Sean St Ledger, Glenn Whelan, James McClean and Kevin Doyle out and Shay Given and Damien Duff retired from international football.

In stark contrast, a wealth of options mean that Chelsea's in-form midfielder Juan Mata has been ommitted from Vicente del Bosque's Spain squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and France.

"That a player like Mata is absent shows how hard it is to get into the squad," said Spain's Bayern Munich midfielder Javi Martinez.

"For me, he is one of the five best players in the Premier League and the fact he is not here shows the quality we have."