Scotland's reported Lyndon Dykes pursuit is a positive for Celtic's Leigh Griffiths

By David Walton

March 11, 2020

The Daily Record has today reported that Scotland manager Steve Clarke is trying to persuade Lyndon Dykes to play for him.

The Record has stated that Scotland boss Clarke has held talks with the Livingston striker, and that he’s currently mulling over his options. They’ve also reported that Clarke could give him a shock call-up for the Euro 2020 playoff match against Israel.

At face value, it’s easy to therefore be concerned for Leigh Griffiths. After all, the only way Scotland could stop Australia from taking Dykes is if they actually play him in a competitive match. That could, in theory, lead Clarke to playing him against Israel in a game that Griffiths deserves to start.

Lyndon Dykes (Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

However, that’s unlikely to be the case. All Clarke would have to do is bring Dykes on for a minute at the end and he would still be tied to Scotland for the rest of his career. Any fears over Griffiths’ place being threatened don’t stand up.

And, in actual fact, this report is actually great news for the Celtic striker. Finally, the country would have another forward who could play alongside Griffiths and help get the best out of him.

Dykes and Griffiths could be an interesting combination

As much as we love Griff, his international record hasn’t been great. He only has four Scotland goals to his name in 19 appearances (Transfermarkt). Much of this, however, has been down to the fact that he’s been up top on his own with a real lack of quality sitting behind him.

Dykes could really help Griffiths take off at international level. He has all the attributes of a forward that Grifiths would thrive off of.

The Livi man’s hold-up play has proved to be exceptional this season, and he’s shown on two occasions against Celtic that he has the pace to go with that power.

Celtic forward Leigh Griffiths (Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

It would be a bit of a throwback to the “big striker, little striker” partnerships that have gone out of fashion. Griffiths has thrived in 2020 alongside Odsonne Edouard, and is clearly at his most productive when he has a team-mate up with him.

It of course firstly requires Dykes to say yes to Scotland. It then needs Clarke to actually be brave enough to play two up top. However, having the chance to work with Dykes on international duty could be what our man needs to really kick-start his Scotland career again.

With Australia’s games against Kuwait and Nepal being postponed this month, it gives Scotland a massive opportunity to swoop in and tie Dykes down. And for Griff, he could prove to be the ideal international partner.

Do you think Dykes and Griffiths would work well together up top with Scotland? Let us know in the discussion forum below.