If Steve Clarke harbours any late, lingering doubts over his attacking options for Haiti he might consider this.
Whenever Che Adams or Lawrence Shankland score for Scotland the team never loses the game.
It will happen one day. There’s a high probability it will happen in Group C at the forthcoming World Cup.
In 47 appearances for the national team, however, Torino forward Adams has scored 13 times and been on the winning side every time.
New Rangers signing Shankland has scored seven goals over six games. The games when he hit the target brokered four wins and two draws.
The trend continued in the final warm-up game against Bolivia in New Jersey when Shankland opened the scoring and Adams claimed a brace in an encouraging first half.
Shankland has always looked more effective with a second striker by his side. Forging a new partnership in a 4-4-2 formation which felt like the manager releasing the handbrake the duo seemed to complement each other.
Lyndon Dykes can point to the fact that Scotland have never lost when he scored either. While his nine goals over 10 games have also generated a 100% record, Shankland and Adams look to be the form players. The duo likely to be entrusted with the task of overcoming the physical and mental challenge of an opening game at the World Cup finals against Haiti in the early hours of Sunday.
Adams was asked to shoulder the burden of leading the front line on his own at Euro 2024 and the stats support the conviction that he needed help.
Scotland attempted the fewest number of shots (17) and shots on target (3) of any team at the tournament. Over three games they scored just two goals – one an own goal – and averaged a dismal 0.44 expected goals per match. Something has to change in America and while 4-4-2 always runs the risk of the two central midfielders being over-run, Clarke seems to accept the need for more attacking threat.
“It was good to play with Lawrence,” said Adams. “He’s a top player and a top finisher. As soon as he scored against Bolivia, I was happy that he settled the nerves a little bit.
“You never know if it’s a partnership that has a future for the tournament.It’s about who the gaffer puts out there to help the team, to hold the ball and score goals.
“I think every striker prefers to play alongside another one. It manages the load a bit more and helps the team press a little bit higher up.
“But it’s a team game now and everyone has to pull in the same direction. It was different at the Euros, in terms of me trying to lead the line.
“But throughout qualifying for this World Cup, it’s been amazing. We’ve really been a threat to the opposition.”
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In qualification the Scots scored an average of 2.17 goals per match. The 13 goals were evenly distributed through the squad with nine different scorers and no one individual claiming more than two goals or outperforming anyone else.
The goals of Scott McTominay and John McGinn have always been as critical to the team’s fortunes as the strikes of Adams or Shankland and, against Bolivia, the service provided by Ben Gannon-Doak and Ryan Christie reduced the levels of apprehension ahead of the opening game.
“We got good service and you know what you’re going to get with those two boys,” adds Adams. Doaky is just direct and gets in behind. He put the first goal against Bolivia on a plate for me.
“I’m really happy with his performance and the team’s performance. He’s a bright, positive player with a big future ahead of him. We just need to put him in the right positions and try to help him.
“We have to guide him but he’s a great player and always a threat to the opposition.”
Gannon-Doak has always been a developing enigma. Blessed with dynamic pace and running his final ball – like his body – lets him down at times and how he needed those two assists in New Jersey to keep Findlay Curtis off his tail and nail down his starting place against Haiti.
Others will feel a good deal less sure of their place. Scotland have some decent players and the regret for Clarke is that any decision to go with a 4-4-2 will mean an important key midfielder – be it Ryan Christie, John McGinn or Lewis Ferguson – missing out on the starting eleven. Scotland have identified a Haitian frailty at set-pieces and the game needs players capable of taking advantage.
“Haiti are a strong team who have picked up some big results,” says Adams. But they lost their last game (against Peru) to two set-pieces so that’s something to keep an eye on. We’re well aware of their counter-attack but it’s mainly about us and what we can do to hurt them."
History weighs heavily on the shoulders of any Scotland national team. There is no reason why it should impact the current squad at all when most of them had yet to be born the last time the team contested a World Cup Finals in 1998, but an air of doomed fatalism is packed in the hamper whenever the Scots travel overseas for a major tournament.
History can be a good deal harder to make than it is to say. It’s not just the fact that Scotland have failed to reach a finals in 28 years. The last time a team in dark blue actually won a game was way back in 1990 and their status as pre-match favourites against Haiti makes people uneasy.
Sebastian Migne’s team play fast, aggressive, carefree football. Displaced from their home nation by gangland anarchy they want to win for their long-suffering people; they are united behind a cause. Scotland need to match that.
"The mentality of the players will be important against Haiti, definitely,” Adams acknowledges. You could see against Bolivia how hot it was but everyone played together and pulled together.
“We were strong in the middle. We sat back a bit more and they didn’t really hurt us. That mindset is one of the strengths within the squad just now.Obviously the results help and going into the World Cup we can be full of confidence now.”
“Hopefully this tournament is coming at the perfect time for us. But it’s up to us to do the magic on the pitch. We’re going into it with a really positive mindset.”
