SCOTLAND goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods says that any nation in the world would be glad to have keepers of the standard of Allan McGregor and Craig Gordon fighting it out for the number one jersey.

Woods works with Gordon at Celtic on a daily basis and so is well aware of his capabilities, while Rangers star McGregor looks to be the man in possession of the gloves for the national team after starting in the first two matches of Alex McLeish’s second Scotland reign.

For Woods, the headache of selecting one of the two ‘top-level’ goalkeepers is a welcome one for McLeish to have, and it might even have been three had David Marshall not asked to be left out of the matches against Belgium and Albania.

"We do have an embarrassment for riches with the two senior guys,” Woods said. “Any other nation in the world would be glad to have two keepers of that standard.

“David Marshall has asked if he can concentrate on Hull just now. For a long time, we've had three fantastic goalkeepers. Now we only have two - only two top-level goalies. It's a great problem to have. “We had Jim Leighton and Andy Goram and we've always had competition.”

Although goalkeepers can be considered to be at their peak well into their thirties, with Gordon now 35 and McGregor now 36, the pair may not have too long left at the top level of the game.

But Woods isn’t concerned about the future of Scottish goalkeeping once the Old Firm pair do eventually bow out, believing that the talent pool in this country runs deep.

“We've got a lot of goalkeepers,” he said. “Craig and Allan are playing at the highest level with Celtic and Rangers, but we've brought in Jordan Archer, Scott Bain and Jon McLaughlin. We've also been monitoring Jamie MacDonald.

"We have a succession plan in place. We have two fantastic goalkeepers right at this moment, and two for the future. In the Under-21s we've got Ross Doohan, Robbie McCrorie and Ryan Fulton. We hope they all push each other on.”

Woods was keen to name-check Kilmarnock keeper MacDonald in recognition of the impressive performance levels he has maintained over his career, and stress that while he is not in this squad, the door remains open to the 32-year-old.

"He's been consistent for a number of years,” he said. “The first squad I was involved in, I had Allan McGregor, Jordan Archer and Jon McLaughlin. I wanted Jamie to know that, just because he wasn't in the first squad, I wasn't going to exclude him from future squads.

"He's been doing himself proud and we just want to acknowledge on the record that we've been keeping an eye on him. He's been excellent with Kilmarnock. I had a chat with him when I first got this job to say: 'Keep doing what you're doing. You aren't out of sight, out of mind.'

"I'm mindful of the goalkeeping talent we've got and there are only so many opportunities you can give people. We only have three places in the squad, if we could give four, five or six, then we would fill them up with young Scottish talent.”

Woods is enjoying working with his country, although there are so many people he knows well on the coaching staff it hasn’t been too much of a culture shock.

"I played with James McFadden, Alex McLeish signed me at Motherwell, and I worked with Peter (Grant) when he came to Celtic. I know them all inside-out.

“It was great experience working with Allan McGregor. I didn't know Jon McLaughlin or Jordan Archer but you get to know them quickly and figure out their strengths and weaknesses.

“You find ways to work with them all and find what qualities they have."