Jordan Rhodes gets his chance to stake a claim for Kenny Miller role

How supporters of a certain age have longed for Jordan to play up front for Scotland again. Tonight at Easter Road their prayers will be answered. However, the Jordan in question is a 22 year-old from Oldham rather than Joe, a more rugged native of Cleland who would in time come to be known as Lo Squalo.

Whether Jordan Rhodes can emulate another great Scotland No 9’s achievements remains to be seen. But he could be the answer to the niggling worry about who might step into the boots worn by Kenny Miller, who for more than a decade now has carried the burden of being Scotland’s principal source of goals.

Miller has been excused duty tonight as Scotland host Australia in a last run-out before the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign next month. This isn’t to say Craig Levein is in the process of phasing-out the striker, although his unstinting service to the Scotland cause cannot remain unaffected by his decision to open a new chapter of his career in Major League Soccer with Vancouver Whitecaps. He is also approaching his 33rd birthday.

Levein toyed with the idea of including him in the squad for tonight’s match at Easter Road, the ground where Miller began his career with Hibernian. “I was tempted,” said the Scotland manager yesterday. “But it’s quite a big thing for him leaving Cardiff in pre-season and there is loads of stuff going on. It’s a nine-hour flight. By the time he gets settled it might be it’s too tiring for him and I might not get the best out of him anyway.

“It meant it also allowed me to look at Jamie Mackie up front. Kenny not being here allows me to look at someone else. Jamie won’t make it now but Jordan will, so we will have a look at how he does.”

There are few players in recent years whose prospects have cause as much excitement within the Tartan Army ranks. Rhodes’ return of 36 league goals last season for Huddersfield Town has whetted the appetite even further, as has eight goals in eight games for the Scotland Under 21 team. Events have conspired to give Levein little choice but to play the striker, with Mackie currently struggling with a calf injury.

The manager had first wondered whether to switch Steven Naismith to play as striker this evening. However, there was something inside Levein which led him to opt for Rhodes, who has been given a more reasonable opportunity to shine after a brief five-minute stint as substitute against Cyprus last year. With Miller’s career in its twilight and Mackie as yet unproven as a central striker at international level, it was put to Levein whether Rhodes might in fact stake a claim for a starting berth in the up-coming games against Serbia and Macedonia.

“Unlikely, but I would never rule anything out,” said Levein. “I hope he does brilliantly,” he added. “Remember, other than five minutes against Cyprus, this is his first real starting situation for the national team. He has done wonders for the under 21s. But Jordan is still a fairly young lad and his experience at this level of international football is extremely limited.

“I’m excited to see what he does. He scored 40 odd goals last season and in anybody’s eyes that is a huge total.”

Attention could also turn to another prodigious scorer of goals in England. Leeds United’s Ross McCormack returns after a period of exile following a well-publicised outburst in February, having been overlooked again by Levein.

However, the manager says he has “caught his eye” in training this week and he is set to feature at some stage tonight. Levein admires McCormack’s willingness to prove him wrong.

“Players get pissed off because they don’t get selected,” said Levein. “So what? The best thing any player can do when the chance does come is impress on the training ground. It looks like he [McCormack] has the bit between his teeth.

“What I like is the fact he has had a go and I bring him back in and he sees that as his chance. There is no point making your mouth go if you are not going to do something about it. He deserves to be here and we’ll see how he gets on.” Levein won’t want to head into a qualifying campaign on the back of a pair of dispiriting friendly defeats. However, he hopes something positive will have been gained from the painful experience in Florida in May, when Scotland went down 5-1 against the United States.

It has alerted him to the danger posed by next summer’s qualifying appointment in Croatia. The match, scheduled for 7 June, looks a particularly awkward one given that the players will have already signed-off from their domestic league programmes.

Levein admits that the defeat in the States was a “sore one” to take. “I watched the DVD too many times to mention and made 20 pages of notes before I realised that it there was a very simple answer to what happened,” he added. “It was the end-of-season switchdown. We played like a team who were finished their season. It has given me serious food for thought about next summer and the preparation for the game in Croatia. I’m going to play a game the week before and we’ll have a couple of training camps as well. I can’t afford that to happen again.”

The fervent wish is that Scotland are still in a position to challenge for a top-two place in the group by the time next summer comes along. Perhaps the answer will lie with Jordan.