Former Scotland striker Kenny Miller believes the national team have strong options up front as they approach their latest qualifiers amid the absence of Che Adams.
Adams has been a key player in recent times but Lyndon Dykes started up front in Scotland’s 2-0 win over Spain after the Southampton forward suffered an injury in the opening Euro 2024 qualifying win against Cyprus.
Dykes has scored eight goals for Scotland and Miller feels there are other serious alternatives for Steve Clarke ahead of Saturday’s clash with Norway in Oslo and the visit of Georgia three days later.
Miller told the PA news agency: “Lyndon was crucial to the team making it to the last Euros, sometimes on his own and sometimes with Che.
“I think Lyndon had it nailed, Lyndon had the jersey to himself but Che came in and did very well when he was injured.
“It’s good Steve has the options up front.
“Jacob Brown has been a support act but we have Kevin Nisbet and Lawrence Shankland who have had good seasons, particularly Lawrence at Hearts. So there’s a lot of options.”
Miller, who scored 18 goals for his country, added about the Hearts forward: “I think he’s a really well-rounded striker with a really good level of goals.
“He’s had a wonderful season – 28 goals is a wonderful return for a striker outwith the Old Firm.
“But not just that, I think his all-round game is pretty good.
“He seems to have accepted the responsibility of the captain’s armband in Craig Gordon’s absence really, really well. “It’s a big responsibility, one that’s not affected him in a negative way. If anything it has affected him in a positive way.”
Scotland have a guaranteed play-off place as a fall-back option but Miller is confident they can finish in the top two of Group A following their flying start.
Clarke took the squad on a training camp to Spain last week to prepare for the double-header and further foment the spirit among the players.
Miller, who was speaking after taking part in a McDonald’s Fun Football session with children in Glasgow, said: “People talk about this club atmosphere but what it means is that the team has been doing well and everyone wants to be part of it and everyone is looking forward to going away.
“The group do look like they have got this spirit and togetherness but it comes from what they have created on the pitch.
“It’s been really good performances and really good results, none more so than the last game against Spain where the lads were excellent and really deserved the win.
“And what it has done is put us in a really strong position going into these qualifiers.
“That means we can potentially forget about this play-off position and get there automatically, which I do believe we can.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on but I do believe we will.”
