Lyndon Dykes said Scotland team-mates prefer him bald and joked about getting the whole squad to go skinhead before the Morocco match. The striker’s hairline is not the point; his place in Scotland’s plans is built on energy, physical work and a role Steve Clarke still values even with one international goal in three years.
Dykes and Scotland
“They prefer the bald Dykes, a bit more aggressive, maybe,” he said, and when asked who would resist the whole squad shaving their heads he answered: “McTominay.” The line fits a player who has become part of Scotland’s identity through impact, not just scoring.
That is why the numbers around him matter. He has scored in nine different international games, scored twice in one game, and Scotland have won every international game in which he has scored. He has also scored the winner in four of his international goals, but only one of those has come in the last three years.
World Cup in the United States
Dykes made his World Cup debut off the bench on Saturday, arriving at the tournament in the United States after a long route through rugby league and Aussie Rules in Australia and then football. He moved on through Queen of the South, Livingston, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic before reaching America.
He described the change in mood around Scotland in direct terms. “We seem a lot more calm,” he said, adding that “the whole squad has just gelled a little bit more coming into this tournament, knowing what it's going to be. It's going to be tough. It's going to be relentless. But the experience from previous tournaments has definitely helped.”
Steve Clarke and Morocco
That calm has been built through hard lessons. Dykes missed Last Euros through injury, did not play two years ago in Germany but stayed around the squad at times, and said being on the outskirts was “a struggle at times.” He also scored six goals in 43 club appearances last season, six in 34 the season before, and seven in 43 the season before that.
Steve Clarke still leans on him for more than finishing. Dykes said he is “always ready” and “always give[s] my best and wear[s] my heart on my sleeve,” while also saying he is ready for whatever his role is against Morocco. For Scotland, that leaves a familiar picture: a striker whose value rises when the game gets messy, and whose next job is to carry that into a World Cup match that will test the whole squad.
