Steven Hammell, the Motherwell defender, has expressed relief after the club's manager Stuart McCall ruled himself out of contention for the Scotland job.

McCall had been tipped as an outsider by bookmakers to succeed Craig Levein, but has said he feels the position has come 10 years too soon for him.

Hammell has every faith in McCall's ability to manage the national team one day, but he is pleased he is going nowhere for the time being. He said: "It is a relief because the players here enjoy working with him. From a selfish point of view, we want him to stay, because he's a top manager.

"Maybe one day, he probably will end up as Scotland manager if he keeps doing well but it's good news for us to hear he's not in the running. He's top coach. He's great to work with and the players love working with him."

Hammell earned his only cap for Scotland in a 4-1 defeat to Sweden in November 2004.Asked who he would like to take on the role, he said: "An experienced manager. Gordon Strachan's name has been linked with it but anyone apart from the gaffer."

Motherwell host Dundee United tonight in a rearranged fixture after the original game was abandoned.

Hammell expects both sides to head into the match full of confidence following recent results. McCall's men picked up a morale-boosting 3-1 away win against St Johnstone, while United fought back from behind to earn a last-gasp 2-2 home draw against Celtic.

Hammell said: "The win on Saturday was important for us. We needed it to keep pace with the teams around us and above us. We go into the Dundee United game full of confidence. They might be the same, with the way they ended the Celtic game."

Jon Daly insists he's ready to start scoring goals for United again after reverting to his role in attack. He said: "I'm a striker and I want to play up front but I'm happy to play anywhere. I'd obviously prefer to play up front but I've had to fill in at centre-back as the team needed me there, which is part-and-parcel of football."