Wednesday's Scottish gossip

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Celtic and Sunderland want frozen-out Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz. (Daily Mirror)

Dundee United are on the brink of securing a loan deal for Fulham's Finland Under-21 forward Lauri Della Valle. (Daily Mail)

Scotland coach Craig Levein will name Darren Fletcher in his squad on Friday and plans to use the Manchester United midfielder in at least one of next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers despite the player's recent debilitating illness. (the Times)

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has been ruled out of the Czech Republic squad to face Scotland in next month's Euro 2012 qualifier following injury. (the Scotsman)

Uefa will decide before Thursday's kick off against Maribor whether Carlos Bocanegra was eligible to play for Rangers in the first leg of Europa League qualifier after the Slovenian club complained to European football's governing body. (Various)

Beram Kayal, Gary Hooper and Kelvin Wilson will travel with Celtic to Switzerland in the hope of recovering from injury in time to face Sion in Thursday's Europa League qualifier second leg. (Various)

Serbian striker Dragan Mrdja could make a surprise return to the Sion side against Celtic on Thursday after six months out through injury. (Various)

Leigh Griffiths has been given the green light by Wolves manager Mick McCarthy to move to the Scottish Premier League on loan, with Aberdeen and Hibernian keen on the former Dundee striker. (the Sun)

East Fife manager John Robertson says East Fife's shock 2-1 League Cup win over Dunfermline Athletic was better than the one he achieved over Celtic while with Inverness Caledonian Thistle n 2003. (Daily Record)

Rangers striker Kane Hemmings, the 20-year-old who broke into the first-team squad this season, is facing a four-month lay-off with a serious knee injury. (Various)

Former Kilmarnock goalkeeper Alan Combe insists his step into coaching with Alloa and St Johnstone is just a stop gap in his bid to keep playing at the age of 37 after a move to Ajax Cape Town fell through. (Daily Record)

Blackpool are ready to table a £1m bid for Aston Villa's Scotland midfielder, Barry Bannan. (Daily Record)

Derby County manager Nigel Clough has placed former Celtic, Motherwell and Scotland midfielder Stephen Pearson on the transfer list. (Daily Record)

Former Scotland striker Lee Miller is poised to move to Carlisle United after being frozen out of the first team by Middlesbrough. (Various)

OTHER GOSSIP

Martin Laird has chosen Stephen Gallacher to be his partner at golf's World Cup at Mission Hills in China in November. (Various)

Rookie pro Ian Redford will tee up in golf's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles tomorrow after the 18-year-old received an invite from Colin Montgomerie. (Daily Record)