Is Shankland finally the striker Scotland have been waiting for?

Steven Naismith remembers it well. A game in Amsterdam before the last Euros, Lawrence Shankland up front on his own, a friendly to see if he was a contender for when the big stuff happened in Germany.

Naismith is Steve Clarke’s assistant now but back then he was Shankland’s manager at Hearts.

It was mid-March 2024 and the striker was tearing it up at Tynecastle. He had 28 goals to his name, including a run of 15 in 15. He was flying – and starting against the Netherlands.

“At one point, the ball breaks to him 20 yards out and rather than taking it out of his feet and finishing, he tries to reverse it for Scott McTominay,” says Naismith.

“I was watching it and that moment told me that he’s still at sea at international level. See, when you go into the international set-up the first thing in your mind is fitting in. Just fit in. And I think that was Shanks fitting in.

“I texted him after and I said ‘I cannae work out why you’re passing to McTominay because I’d rather you have that shot than anybody else’. But when I thought about it I could understand it because maybe he was a bit unsure of his place.

“I told him he needed to think about what’s got him there. ‘You’re in that starting team because the manager trusts you to take these chances. Don’t pass them up.’

“He’s totally different now. He’s comfortable. He believes he’s part of it. And that’s why he’s in the squad – for these moments. He’s matured so, so much. He’s just elevated his game.”