Blossoming Scotland strike pairing can fire Clarke's men to World Cup history as bullish star makes tattoo pledge

The Charlton Athletic frontman was introduced at half-time for George Hirst in the 4-1 victory over Curacao at Hampden, marking the Scots’ final match on home soil before flying out to the United States on Sunday.

A mainstay in the squad in recent years during Clarke’s tenure, the 30-year-old produced an impressive 45 minute display against the Caribbean minnows and will hope that can thrust him into contention for a starting berth alongside the former Hearts talisman against Haiti in Boston on June 14.

The pair linked up extremely well with in the second half, with Dykes providing the assist for new Rangers signing Shankland’s second goal of the afternoon, which ensured this friendly clash avoided becoming a damp squib. It’s a pairing that will have encouraged Clarke.

“It's up to him (Clarke),” Dykes replied when quizzed on whether he feels he has done enough to stake a claim for a starting jersey against Haiti. “I always try and show my best every time I get a chance. It's not a given coming away here, but I know what I can offer to this team. I've done it for a long time now and I'm going to give it my all like I have before in big games for us.

“We're all fighting for positions and we've all got our own qualities. I think today was a great performance all in all. We started okay, obviously gave away a sloppy goal, but in the end it was a strong performance. A few goals and it was a good send-off for the fans and for us.

“I thought myself and Shanks worked really well. I like playing in a two, I think I've got that quality to link with a striker and have extra bodies around us. Two great finishes from Shanks, so it was really positive.

“Every game is different. Every game is going to be tactical in different ways for the manager. Obviously, Haiti is first up and we need to win that game if we want to achieve something, if we want to get out of the group. I think games like this definitely help us and that shows credit to the manager and the whole squad that we can do different things to change a game.

“We've done that today and throughout the whole (qualification) campaign. Sometimes we’ve played as a two up top, such as me and Che (Adams) away to Denmark. But we can change it to a different formation to adapt to a different situation, which is good.”

Dykes plans World Cup-themed tattoo to mark the occasion

Dykes confirmed plans to add to his already impressive tattoo collection by inking a World Cup-themed memento next month - and has vowed to rope head coach Clarke in as well, should they manage to do what previous Scotland squads have failed to achieve.

“I'm there for it as I've got plenty of tattoos,” Dykes grinned. “I've said to a couple of the boys that we're going to get some so we might need to think about getting something to mark the occasion. (Ryan) Christie is in and hopefully Billy (Gilmour) is in as well. We need to try and get as many as possible... even the manager might get one if we can get out of the group! That might be more difficult, though.”