MARK McGhee last night expressed hope Scotland fans travelling to France for the friendly international in Metz on Saturday will not be affected by proposed transport strikes.

The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the largest union in France, is set to intensify its industrial action over planned reforms to employment law in the coming days.

Air traffic controllers are poised to join the national railroad, Paris Metro and ports in stoppages which have already caused widespread unrest in the country this week.

The planned action could inconvenience members of the Tartan Army and even prevent them from attending the match against the Euro 2016 finalists at the Stade Saint-Symphorien this weekend.

The national team is currently in Malta, where they lost 1-0 to Italy on Sunday night, preparing for the match with France and are due to fly directly to Metz on a private charter on Friday.

The French government is in negotiations with the CGT and are keen for the situation to be successfully resolved before Euro 2016 gets underway on June 10. But Prime Minister Manuel Valls has vowed not to give in to protestors.

McGhee, the Scotland assistant manager, confirmed the SFA are monitoring the situation and voiced his concern for fans who were planning on attending the final match of the season.

“At the moment I’m not aware of any changes to our plans,” he said. “But before we came out we were aware of the situation in France. So far there isn’t an issue in terms of us going there and leaving. But we’ll be kept up to date by our staff.

“It would absolutely be a shame for our supporters if they were caught up in the problems in France. We saw a lot of positives to be taken from these two games and one of them was the experience for the supporters.

“They were denied the opportunity to go to the Euros, and of course one of the games we knew would give them the opportunity to watch Scotland play in France before the tournament. I realise it’s a small consolation, but it’s still a game against the hosts and one of the potential winners.

“So if this was interfered with in any way then it would be a real shame. Fans will have forked out a lot of money for the trip and we really don’t want to see them affected by the situation in France.

“I know that for sure, too, that Gordon (Scotland manager Strachan) considers these kind of things very seriously, also in terms of the relationship with clubs and us having their players.

“He arranges these games with so much consideration – and he knew the Italy and France games would be attractive for the supporters and, on the face of it, not too difficult to get to.”

McGhee stressed that Strachan is also conscious of the impact that any disruptions may have on the members of his squad at this late stage in the 2015/16 campaign.

“Gordon’s shown with his attitude towards the teams in the early European rounds that he’s considering them all the time,” he said. “It’s why there are a number of players not here.

“He’s almost got a particularly generous attitude to the players and the clubs. He feels very strongly that we’re privileged to have the boys. They’re not our players, they’re the clubs’ players. He takes that into account.

“He never does anything that’s going to affect the cub performance or the club situation. He bends over backwards, really.”

Meanwhile, McGhee, who is also the Motherwell manager, has revealed he is optimistic of securing the Fir Park club’s out-of-contract players on new deals this week.

The Ladbrokes Premiership club’s deals with Steven Hammell, Keith Lasley and Stephen McManus are poised to expire, but McGhee is hopeful new deals can be agreed.

“We are getting closer,” he said. “They are all intimating that they do want to stay so I’m hoping that even this week there will be some progress.

“I’ve met with players already that I’m interested in bringing in. They’re waiting for answers for answers from us and I’m waiting for answers from some of them.

“Things are moving, it’s not completely set aside while I’m here and of course Alan Burrows (Motherwell chief executive) back at Fir Park is putting in motion some of the things I need him to do for me.

“I want them all to stay. It’s coming. It’s not going to be that much longer, it’s coming to a head. I would like to think a couple of weeks before pre-season, so a couple of weeks’ time, so that if they’re not staying I can go and get somewhere else.

“I need to know about Scott McDonald. If Scott stays I have him and Louis Moult. I have Marvin Johnson although I will be amazed if no-one takes him but at the moment he’s still here.”