Steve Clarke likes his Scotland strikers as he mulls over Euro 2024 selection - 'he actually improved us, believe it or not'

Clarke named three strikers in his last squad – is the forwards’ group now settled, and who will start v Germany in June?

Lawrence Shankland’s Scotland career might be said to have got off to an inauspicious start were it not for the fact that it has been almost entirely inauspicious until his cameo against Georgia in November.

The identity of the opposition against whom he made his debut illustrates just how long the player, now 28, has been in and around the squad. Russia were still active on the international sports scene when Shankland, then playing in the Championship with Dundee United, received the call up from Steve Clarke in just the manager's own fifth game in charge. "I despair, I really do," wrote Kris Boyd in his newspaper column.

It was a comment on the parlous state of the Scottish frontline rather than Russia's continued involvement within the international sporting community following the occupation of Crimea five years earlier. The subsequent invasion of Ukraine has finally been deemed a step too far.

Lawrence Shankland shields the ball from Georgi Dzhikiya during the UEFA European Qualifier against Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium, on October 10, 2019, in Moscow. Scotland lost 4-0 (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

As for Shankland, Boyd complained that Clarke was not about to throw such a raw striker from the lower tiers into the mix against Russia, so why bother calling him in at all? The pundit boldly predicted that Shankland will be used, if at all, against the “cannon fodder” of San Marino at Hampden on the following Monday.

In fact, Clarke did push Shankland into the fray in the Luzhniki stadium, where the World Cup final had been played the previous year. It was goalless when Shankland was sent on for Oli Burke – whatever happened to him? – at half time. The final result? Russia 4 Scotland 0.

"He actually improved us, believe it or not!" said Clarke when reflecting on the evening earlier this week. "His hold-up play was good. Back to goal play was good. Although we lost four goals in the second half I thought he improved the team.

“It was maybe other people on the night let Lawrence down a little bit, rather than Lawrence letting himself down,” he added. “I thought he was decent. From then, you get a feel for the player, a feel for the lad. He’s always been there or thereabouts around the squad."

Che Adams is also among the strikers the current Scotland group.

Thereabouts mostly. Up until he stepped from the bench to head in that late equaliser against Georgia, the first match of a double header for which he was not even included in the original pool of players, Shankland has never been sure of his place in the next squad. Often it proved astute of him to harbour such low expectations.

Even on Monday night, and knowing Clarke was sitting in the Cappielow main stand for Hearts’ narrow win over Morton in the quarter-final Scottish Cup tie, Shankland feared he had blown his chance after being involved in a different sport for 90 plus minutes. According to Shankland, he and Morton defender Kirk Broadfoot were otherwise engaged in a “wrestling” contest.

But such anxiety proved unnecessary when the following morning Clarke included Shankland among 25 names for the upcoming games against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland.

He is set to win just his seventh and eighth caps. His sixth appearance, short though it was, proved pivotal. With his side trailing 2-1 against Georgia in Tbilisi in November, Clarke turned to his bench and wondered who was more likely to plunder a goal – Shankland or his other forward option Jacob Brown?

Lyndon Dykes is not a first pick at his club QPR.

He chose Shankland even though Brown had been preferred to the Hearts skipper when he was named in the initial group (Shankland was a late addition after Che Adams withdrew due to injury). The Scotland manager’s instincts were proved right.

The forward scored a typically opportunist goal to make it 2-2 and in many people’s eyes, book his place on the plane to Germany. Another 17 goals for his club have helped strengthen this view. Indeed, it’s now become more a case of whether Clarke can afford to leave him out of the starting line-up when Scotland face Germany in Munich on 14 June. Well, can he?

We will learn more over the coming days. Clarke is nothing if not loyal. He often refers to Lyndon Dykes and Adams as "my strikers", most recently during a briefing at Hampden last week after announcing his last squad before picking a provisional pool for Euro 2024.

It is getting close to crunch time for so many players although when it comes to strikers, and noting the lack of alternative options, is the group now settled? Speculation about Harvey Barnes switching allegiance from England to Scotland appears to have faded, with Clarke having said little, either on or off the record in recent months, to encourage the story. It’s interesting to recall that Adams’ switch of allegiance from England to Scotland was confirmed three years ago this weekend, in time for Euro 2020.

All Shankland will ask is for sufficient time to show what he can do after. His last three caps have amounted to only around half an hour of playing time.

“I think you know by now that I like my strikers,” said Clarke, with reference to Dykes and Adams. “I like them. It’s good that Lawrence is in there now to keep them on their toes. Those three will definitely get game time across the two matches. It’s up to them to impress.

"Lawrence has done well. Don’t forget the other two strikers have been decent for me as well, Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams. It’s nice to have Che back. Dykes is maybe not quite getting into the QPR team at the moment, a little bit in and out.

"You’ve got Jacob Brown to add to the mix," Clarke added. "Jacob is injured and out probably until the middle to end of April. He’s another one I’ve got in my head, another one who does well.

“I’m always looking for more in the forward positions but, at the moment, it’s three. They will get the chance over the next couple of games to impress.”