SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke has stressed he has no concerns about the form of Lawrence Shankland ahead of the Nations League matches against Croatia and Poland and expressed confidence the Hearts striker will get back among the goals soon.

Shankland has scored just once during the 2024/25 season – he netted a last-minute equaliser against Ross County in a William Hill Premiership match at Tynecastle back in September.

The 15-times capped 29-year-old, who was on target 33 times last term, is likely to feature in the forthcoming Group A1 double header as Che Adams of Torino has been forced to withdraw from the national squad due to injury.

However, Clarke, who can also field Lyndon Dykes of Birmingham City and Tommy Conway of Middlesbrough up front, stated that he still has complete faith in the PFA Scotland and SFWA Player of the Year. 

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“Lawrence is good,” he said ahead of the encounter with Croatia at Hampden tomorrow evening. “I’ve been lucky to play with and work with a lot of really good strikers in my career.

“They all go through little patches where they don’t score. All they can do is keep working hard and getting into the right positions. Eventually the goals will come. Lawrence is fine.”

Scotland’s main source of goals in the last few seasons has been midfielder Scott McTominay – who took his tally for his adopted homeland to 11 when he broke the deadlock in the Nations League match against Portugal in Lisbon in September.

(Image: Steve Welsh - PA Wire) Clarke is delighted McTominay has made such a positive impression in Italy since making his record £26m move to Napoli this summer and is optimistic the former Manchester United man will pose a threat in the final third against Croatia. 

“It helps us if we have players going to top leagues abroad, especially if they have the impact Scott’s had in Italy,” he said. “He’s hit the ground running and he’s been a great player for me over the last five years.

“It doesn’t matter where I’ve played him - even out of position at centre-back - he was still there for me. It just shows the quality he’s got.

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“To hit the ground running in Serie A isn’t always easy. A lot of players would go and struggle to find their feet in that league because it’s slightly different to the Premier League, it’s more tactical. But he’s working under a really good head coach (Antonio Conte) and together they’ll keep improving.”

Clark continued: “We’ve improved, but let’s improve a little bit more and get results. We have to defend like we did against Portugal, but add that extra layer. At the other end of the pitch, we have to find that little bit more quality that gets us a chance to score.

“We speak to the players about where we feel they have to improve and they’ve taken it on board. Hopefully you’ll see that in the next two matches. Ending the year on a high would be great. It would be nice to finish with a couple of victories and set us up for a good 2025."