Fulham defender Aaron Hughes has been ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Latvia in Riga due to an ankle injury but is hopeful of featuring in Iceland next Wednesday.

Damien Johnson and Tony Capaldi have withdrawn from Northern Ireland’s squad for their Euro 2008 qualifiers against Latvia and Iceland through injury.

Birmingham midfielder Johnson is still troubled by a hamstring problem sustained in pre-season while Capaldi suffered a strain in Cardiff’s win at Norwich last Saturday.