SUNDERLAND have asked Scotland boss Berti Vogts not to hamper Kevin Kyle's injury comeback by subjecting him to two full games in the space of six days.

Kyle missed almost all of the Black Cats' pre-season programme after injuring his hip in training, and was left on the bench for the opening game of their Championship campaign.

He has started every match since then, but Sunderland's coaching staff have been careful not to push him too hard in training in order to avoid a relapse.

Scotland face Spain in a friendly this evening, before kicking off their World Cup qualification campaign at home to Slovenia on Wednesday.

Kyle is expected to start tonight's game at the home of Valenica-based club side Levante, as Vogts assesses his striking options ahead of next week's crunch Hampden Park clash.

The Sunderland striker is tussling with Blackburn's Paul Dickov and Everton's James McFadden for a place in the side to face Slovenia, and Vogts will use this evening's friendly to put his fitness to the test.

The Scotland boss can rightly point out that Kyle has started Sunderland's last six games but, after facing Reading on Tuesday night, his employers are concerned at the effect three games in eight days could have on his hip.

Kyle is one of ten Sunderland players currently away representing their country, with Carl Robinson, John Oster, Thomas Myhre, Mart Poom and Gary Breen all on full international duty and Sean Thornton and Stephen Elliott in the Republic of Ireland's Under-21 squad.

The list is completed by the Northern Irish duo of Jeff Whitley and George McCartney, but the latter will miss out when Lawrie Sanchez's side open their World Cup campaign against Poland tomorrow.

McCartney is suspended for the game in Belfast, but should return for Wednesday's showdown with Wales.

The full-back is desperate to play in the Millennium Stadium, in a game that could see him line up against team-mates Robinson and Oster, and is hopeful that his absence tomorrow will not see him miss out again next week.

"The Wales game is one I'd like to play in," said McCartney, who will win his 15th cap if selected on Wednesday. "It's a big game, there's a lot at stake, and a lot of the players know each other.

"It's a blow to miss out against Poland. There is no guarantee that I'll get back in against Wales, but that's just the way football is."

Meanwhile, Mick McCarthy has offered a trial to two of the players that impressed during the club's pre-season tour of the United States.

Wilmington Hammerheads duo Glenn Murray and Tim Karalexis will spend the next two weeks training with the Black Cats in an attempt to win a permanent deal on Wearside.

Murray, who was born in Workington, is a lively striker who scored both of the Carolina All Stars' goals against Sunderland in a game that was called off because of a lightning strike.

The 20-year-old, who was an apprentice at Carlisle, opted to try his luck in the States after being told he was not wanted at Brunton Park.

Karalexis was voted the USL Pro Soccer League's defender of the year this week after completing his second full season for the Hammerheads.

Vogts, meanwhile, shrugged off enquiries about his own future.

He said: "It doesn't bother me. It is better the pressure is on me than on my young boys.

"I can live with that. I ignore it. It is part of the job.

"You will have to ask Gordon Strachan what he thinks about it. I don't have any response."

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