Kris Boyd has urged Steve Clarke to consider throwing Lyndon Dykes into the starting XI against Brazil after his impact off the bench against Morocco.
Scotland fell to a 1-0 defeat in their World Cup opener, but Boyd believes Dykes’ physicality could be crucial against the South Americans, especially in battles with Arsenal defender Gabriel.
Speaking on the Go Ballistic podcast, Boyd said: “It will be interesting to see what Steve Clarke does with Dykes. Set-plays could be crucial against Brazil, and Gabriel is a man mountain, really aggressive.
“Scotland looked a lot more at it when they had bigger, more physical players on.”
Despite the call for change, Boyd warned Clarke against drastically altering his approach. He said: “I don’t expect Steve to change too much and try to go toe-to-toe with Brazil.
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“It could end up three or four if Scotland try to do that. We also have to be more physical because there were points when Morocco bullied them early on.
“Kenny McLean also did well when he came on and could be in the mix to start.”
Reflecting on the defeat to Morocco, Boyd pointed to the devastating early goal as a turning point. He said: “That Morocco goal changes everything and Scotland got spooked.
“For 20 minutes, they were dominated and barely touched the ball, albeit there weren’t many openings. But that all gets thrown in the bin after 70 seconds.”
Boyd did, however, praise Scotland’s response after the nightmare start. He added: “Scotland were rocked, but they stuck at it and played their way into the game.
“The team was decent in the second half and showed a lot more belief. The one problem was creating chances, and that’s the next step when they face Brazil.”
