McFadden was substituted during last weekend's win over Wigan with a groin injury after scoring the decisive goal from the penalty spot. He joined up with Scotland after the weekend but was forced to withdraw from the side to face the Czech Republic last night - the first game of the Craig Levein era. Blues boss Alex McLeish said: "It is unusual that James would run off the pitch willingly like he did last weekend without throwing a tantrum. "He likes to show his displeasure when we take him off with even a minute to go. "We keep saying to the players, it is about the bigger picture, about the team, it's about the squad and sometimes it is about taking a guy off who is not at his best. "But normally it's because of changing things legs-wise and getting freshness onto the pitch. "When he ran off willingly last week I said 'it's not like McFadden' and I seriously worried about his chances of playing for Scotland." McLeish added: "Craig Levein was brilliant. He was upfront in terms of the medical side of things. "We contacted the Scotland doctor and Craig who said he wouldn't take any chances if James wasn't 100% fit. "Now I'm hoping he wasn't far away from playing but we will assess him in training to see whether he is available to play in the Portsmouth game. "It is a wee kind of groin strain and that can affect your movement. "Players like James rely on mobility and the slightest little knock to players of that calibre can disrupt their whole game." McFadden has played in a left-sided role for much of the season but has moved upfront in recent games in place of Christian Benitez.
