Holland coach Bert van Marwijk has an injury crisis to contend with ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Saturday.

Van Marwijk is without a raft of senior players for the Group Nine clash, with Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, John Heitinga and goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg all injured.

The Ajax keeper's absence has meant a shock recall for Manchester United's Edwin Van der Sar, who retired from international football after Euro 2008.

And Van Marwijk admits the injuries have forced him to rethink his plans as he looks to guide Holland to a second straight win which would consolidate their position at the top of the group.

"I had a general idea of how we want to do it, but on Monday morning there were some surprises," the coach said.

"This week we seemed to be out of luck more than usual. Until Tuesday I hoped everybody would be fit."

The boss may though be able to call on Wesley Sneijder, who could feature from the bench having been sidelined for the past two months.

Iceland, who have never qualified for a European Championship or World Cup, are currently ranked 103 in the world and have claimed one point from their opening two fixtures.

Coach Olafur Johannesson will again be relying for goals on Barcelona's Eidur Gudjonsson, who has scored in each of his last two games for his country and twice in Primera Liga for the Catalan giants this season.

In the other game in the group, Darren Fletcher will captain Scotland against Norway as the Scots attempt to build on their win over Iceland last time out.

The Manchester United midfielder will win his 40th cap and wear the armband in the absence of the injured Barry Ferguson and suspended Stephen McManus.

The 24-year-old has a 100% record as captain of his country, having skippered Scotland to victory on three occasions, and he has promised to lead by example.

He said: "The captain is the leader of the team, but we have a lot of leaders in the dressing room.

"There will be a lot of voices on the pitch but I will try my best and I will try to lead by example."

Manager George Burley must decide whether to play James McFadden as a lone striker or give Chris Iwelumo his debut.

Aston Villa's John Carew will lead the line for Norway after a fine start to the season with his club, netting five times so far, although there are still doubts over the fitness of his strike partner Steffen Iversen, who has a leg injury.

Striker Mohammed Abdellaoue and midfielders Martin Andresen, Per Ciljan Skjelbred and Vladimir Demidov have already withdrawn from the squad.

Scotland have three points from their opening two games, while Norway drew their only qualifier so far.