STEVE Clarke faces a raft of agonising selection dilemmas as he adds the finishing touches to his Scotland squad for the Euro 2020 finals in the coming weeks.

What centre backs should he choose out of Andy Considine, Liam Cooper, Declan Gallagher, Grant Hanley, Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna? Can he take right backs Stephen O’Donnell, Liam Palmer and Nathan Patterson? There is much for Clarke to ponder and many big calls to make. 

But deciding on which strikers he should include in his 25 man pool will cause the national manager the most sleepless nights.

Che Adams, the Southampton forward who qualifies to play for this country because of a grandparent who hails from Edinburgh and who did well in the Qatar 2022 qualifiers last month, will certainly get the nod.

Lyndon Dykes, the Australia-born Queens Park Rangers forward who made the step up to international football effortlessly after pledging his allegiances to his adopted homeland last summer, will too?

And Ryan Fraser, the Newcastle United player who has netted in his last three Scotland appearances against the Czech Republic, Israel and the Faroe Islands, will join them.

But who else does Clarke put his faith in? Oliver McBurnie of Sheffield United has been ruled out by injury. His club mate Oliver Burke has toiled of late and has lost his place. Steven Naismith has been playing in the second tier with Hearts and has been repeatedly overlooked. Lawrence Shankland of Dundee United has failed to reproduce his heroics of last term.

It appears, then, to be a straight fight between Leigh Griffiths of Celtic and Kevin Nisbet of Hibernian for the final spot.

The former was involved in the play-off final win over Serbia in November and buried a penalty in the historic shoot-out triumph. But he has endured a difficult nine months for a variety of reasons. Speculation currently abounds about whether will join a new club in the close season. He will be 31 in August.

He hasn’t been an automatic starter at Parkhead for some time and was overlooked for the Group F triple header last month. But he came off the bench and scored an injury-time equaliser against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday.

All of a sudden, there was an almighty clamour for the man who became a hero to the Tartan Army when he curled in those two long-range free-kicks late on in a Russia 2018 qualifier against England at Hampden in 2017, to be involved at Euro 2020.

Nisbet, in stark contrast to his compatriot, has been sensational this season. He has been on target in his last three outings against Rangers, Stranraer and Livingston and has taken his tally for the 2020/21 campaign to 17. He made his Scotland debut against the Faroe Islands.

So who does Clarke go for? Does he put his faith in the enigma that is Griffiths in the hope that he stays fit and comes good? He has the experience and ability to cope with the Group D encounters with the Czech Republic, England and Croatia.

Or does he prefer Nisbet? The former Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers and Dunfermline predator impressed him greatly last month? Could he possibly pick both of them?

Derek Riordan, the former Celtic, Hibs and Scotland striker, knows both players well. He is in no doubt about who should be preferred if only one of them is to be involved. For him, Griffiths should be in the starting line-up for the opening Euro 2020 game against the Czech Republic at Hampden on June 14, not just in the squad.

“If Griffiths gets a chance he will take it,” he told the Edinburgh Football Show podcast. “He is the best striker in Scotland for me. He is doing the damage again. As long as he is scoring goals that is good enough for me.

“He should be playing every week for Celtic in my eyes. I don’t know why he isn’t. Some of his off-field stuff hasn’t helped him perhaps?

“But he can shoot from anywhere. He can score from anywhere from 30 yards in. He is the best striker in the Premiership. He gets people off their seats. For me, he should be playing.”

Riordan was delighted to see Griffiths pop up at the death in midweek and nod home from close range – his first goal in nearly three months – to earn John Kennedy’s charges a draw against Stephen Glass’s men.

The forward’s eighth strike of the season meant that his beloved Hibs are six points ahead of their nearest challenges in the Premiership table with just three matches remaining and are strong favourites to finish third in the top flight for the first time in 16 years. 

“I think it cemented third place for Hibs,” said Riordan. “Leigh is a Hibs fan as well so it was the perfect ending for us really.”

The 38-year-old, who won three caps between 2005 and 2009, knows that his countryman needs to perform well and pitch in with a few more goals in his final three league games to ensure his involvement in Euro 2020.

But he thinks the man who has frustrated and delighted supporters in equal measure throughout his rollercoaster career should be in the team, not just the squad, regardless of how he performs between now and the meeting with Hibernian at Easter Road on May 15.

“I have always said it, Griffiths for me is the first choice out of everybody,” he said. “Che Adams is obviously playing in the Premier League. It is a lottery out of the other ones. But Griffiths has to be there. I don’t care what anybody says, he is the best striker we have.”

 

Derek Riordan was speaking to David Tanner on the Edinburgh Football Show podcast. To listen to the full interview go to https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-edinburgh-football-show/id1538009147