Scotland assistant manager Peter Houston has said that the friendly against Slovenia will be a useful workout for the national team.

Slovenia are currently 27th in the FIFA rankings and Houston believes they will be a tough proposition for Scotland when the teams meet on Wednesday evening.

The coach pointed out that although they were on of the lesser known European nations, Slovenia could point to appearances at Euro 2000 and World Cups 2002 and 2010 as evidence of their strength.

“They’re good and they’re organised,” Houston said. “They’re a small country like Scotland and they’re looking to move up.

“They’ve qualified for major tournaments in the recent past.

“They’re solid enough. They play a 4-4-2 most of the time with two sitting midfielders.”

Houston said that although impressed by Slavisa Stojanovic’s side, the Scotland coaching staff had identified weaknesses that they hoped to exploit. He added that it could also offer a chance for experimentation and for players to further their case for a starting slot in the next set of competitive matches.

“The backroom staff watched the DVDs last night for how we can capitalise on it,” he explained. “You like to think you can spot some ways that you can get in about them and cause them some problems.

“Slovenia will be a difficult game but it’s a build-up, then we’ve got the America game after that and then it’s the big thing [World Cup qualifiers].

“There are places to be had [in the team]. It is a good time for Craig to look at anybody else out ther who could enhance the squad.

“You tend to find that with the last few squads it been more or less the same players with one or two added, like James Forrest.”