George Burley says referee Pavel Kralovec will be under pressure on Saturday. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

Pavel Kralovec will referee Scotland’s World Cup qualifying opener against Macedonia - just eight months after being banned for a poor performance by the Czech Football Association.

The 31-year-old was given a six-match ban for making serious errors in a league match between Slavia Prague and Mlada Boleslav and later apologised for the display.

Despite having just two previous qualifiers at this level under his belt, he will now be in charge of Saturday’s curtain-raiser in Skopje.

“We have a young, inexperienced referee,” said the Scotland manager George Burley. “It’s a big test for him and he will be under pressure.”

About this articleCloseWorld Cup qualifiers: Banned official takes charge of Scotland game This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday September 04 2008. It was last updated at 13:11 on September 04 2008.

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