Lyndon Dykes speaks on 'easy' Scotland goal and ending international famine

Lyndon Dykes was grateful for what he described as the "easiest goal" he will score all season after his first-half strike was the difference against bottom seeds Moldova.

Scotland's Lyndon Dykes celebrates making it 1-0 during the World Cup qualifier win over Moldova at Hampden Park. The Scots struggled to break down the bottom seeds. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

It was far from a thing of beauty but the Queens Park Rangers striker was simply happy to put behind him a 12 match-run without a goal for Scotland, who are now third in their Group F World Cup qualifying group and face a critical clash with Austria in Vienna on Tuesday.

"I'll take that kind of goal all day,” said Dykes. "As a striker you need to follow the ball in and hope it comes to you.

"That's what happened and I am happy with that.”

Dykes has scored three times in five appearances for his club this season but goals for Scotland have been harder to come by. He has not struck since a 1-0 win over Slovakia last October.

Nathan Patterson did all of the legwork on his full debut, bursting into the box after a one-two with Kevin Nisbet and forcing a save from Christian Avram. Dykes was on hand to tuck the loose ball into the net from a couple of yards.

"It's the easiest one I have scored all season and I'll take 20 of those, no worries,” said Dykes. "It was just good to get the goal and ease the boys into the game.

"I am feeling good just now, feeling confident. It's been a good start to the season. In general, I feel confident and hopefully that keeps rolling on and the goals come.”

Dykes complimented Patterson for the assist. "Nathan did really well for the goal and he has a great future ahead of him,” he said. “He has done well for Rangers and hopefully he keeps up those good performances. The sky is the limit for him.”

How the Scotland players rated in dreary 1-0 win over Moldova

Scotland now head to Vienna looking to secure a win over Austria that could all but eliminate the hosts from the qualifying equation. The Austrians suffered a shock 5-2 defeat to Israel in Haifa while Scotland were getting the better of Moldova.

"That should give us confidence and we are going there to play with confidence and target a win,” he said. "That result just shows that the teams in this group have quality.

"We have played Israel a few times, probably too many, and they have good players too. We have to take the games as they come, put the head down and graft.

"Austria would have been dangerous even if they hadn't lost but we need to focus on ourselves. We need to be positive and put it on them."

Dykes accepted that being more ruthless is the key – the Scots missed several chances to earn a more handsome victory over Moldova.

"Yeah, but look at the squad,” he said. “There are goals all round it. It's something that we talk about and we work on but once it clicks, that will happen.

"We got a bit unlucky against Moldova but it will come. It was a bit frustrating and we all knew at the end that we should have had a few more. But as long as we keep getting in those positions, with our quality, we will score goals.”

Grant Hanley wants another Scotland moment against Austria after header got him back on international track

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