More radical elements of the Tartan Army may be purring at the thought of Scotland overtaking England in Fifa's world rankings, but George Burley has stressed he will not be joining in with any bouts of euphoria.

The latest league table of international sides, issued yesterday morning, placed Scotland at 16, just a single place below their oldest rivals. If successful in forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Macedonia and Iceland, therefore, it is entirely possible Burley's team will leapfrog their English counterparts.

The Scotland manager, though, is unenthused by such a prospect. “The only thing we are interested in is taking the nation to the World Cup finals,” Burley said. “That is why I took the job, not because of rankings.

“Macedonia are well down the list yet they have beaten Croatia and drawn with Holland. What do the rankings gain you? International football is about qualifying for major championships, that is what everybody is looking at.

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“Sometimes you don't play but your rankings can go up and down. I'd hope if you asked the punters if they would rather see us qualify for the World Cup finals or go one place above England in the rankings, they would pick the World Cup.”

Ironically, Burley's assistant and a former England captain, Terry Butcher, was more upbeat on overtaking the nation who once counted on him as one of their favourite sons. “Hopefully we can go past them,” Butcher said. “It is just a table, but to overtake them would mean we were winning qualification games. It would be a reflection of our success. “I am English but my priority is Scotland. I don't even know who else is in England's qualifying section apart from Croatia.”

Burley's preparations for Saturday's game in Macedonia and the visit to Iceland on Wednesday have been hampered by further call-offs. Kevin Thomson, Callum Davidson and Kevin McNaughton all withdrew from the Scotland party yesterday, joining Garry O'Connor, David Marshall and David Weir on the absentee list. Barry Ferguson and Alan Hutton were not named in the original squad because of long-term injuries; such problems have plagued Burley since his appointment in January.

Michael Stewart, the Heart of Midlothian midfield player, has received a late call-up, while Weir is due to undergo minor surgery on a groin complaint before the end of this week. Stewart, who featured in last month's friendly match against Northern Ireland, had been planning a weekend with friends at the Braemar Highland Games.

“It is great to be involved again and I'll just have to wait and see what happens,” the former Manchester United player said. “I don't know what the situation is. It is a case of doing well in training and taking things from there. As to playing in the games? Stranger things have happened.”

Burley, meanwhile, has once again displayed a brave face amid disruption. “The shape of my team for Macedonia has not changed [since the withdrawls],” Burley said.

“I haven't changed my mind on that, or the way we are going to play. We have been unlucky with injuries, but that's why I named 25 players initially. We will take 22 to Macedonia, which I am very comfortable with.”

Scotland's manager is more concerned with the practicalities of the Macedonian encounter. Temperatures in Skopje are tipped to touch 100 degrees on Saturday while Burley has pointedly referred to the “inexperience” of Pavel Kralovec, the 31-year-old Czech referee who will oversee proceedings.

“We have to be a bit more thoughtful about things and conserve our energy,” Burley said. “For days, never mind hours, before the game we have to keep testing the players and make sure they are fully hydrated. We can't tear about for 90 minutes and that's something we have had to look at. There has to be some thought behind it.

“It is a small stadium, we will only have 1,000 fans and it will be a big test for the young referee. We have to be aware of Macedonia's qualities, show controlled aggression and be very disciplined in the way we play.”