Steve Clarke must be beginning to wonder what he has done to upset the footballing gods.
Are they fans of Ayr United, still smarting from his revitalisation of Kilmarnock? Perhaps there are Rangers supporters among them, who didn’t take too kindly to the famous ‘bye bye’ he once directed towards them at Rugby Park. Though, given the way the last few years have gone for the Ibrox side, perhaps not.
Either way, upset them the Scotland manager seems to have, for it is now getting difficult to rationalise any earthly explanation for why his players are dropping like flies less than a fortnight out from a major tournament. And not only that, the national team’s biggest game in over 25 years, as they take on Germany in the opening match of their home tournament in Munich a week on Friday.
Lyndon Dykes is the latest to fall by the wayside, the big striker following Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Lewis Ferguson and Jacob Brown in picking up an injury that has ruled him out of the tournament altogether.
Arguably, his absence will be felt more keenly than any of the others so far. The QPR frontman is an integral part of Clarke’s squad. The knee injury he picked up during training on Friday at Lesser Hampden has come at both a huge personal and collective cost.
It is a shame for Dykes first and foremost. He may have his critics, but he has been a brilliant servant for his country since he opted to represent Scotland back in 2020, and he played a key role in getting the nation to the Euros in the first place with his crucial equalising goal over on Oslo. He was also impressive in the home victory against Spain, giving their centre backs a torrid time of it.
He may not be overly prolific – though his nine goals in 36 caps is a more than decent record at international level – but it is perhaps what he brings out in others that will be missed the most.
His physical presence and his willingness to go up against central defenders are qualities that none of the other Scotland strikers - bar Che Adams, arguably - really possess.
Adams may likely have been preferred to start against Germany in the opening game in any case, and is a fair old unit himself these days. He has the ability to pin defenders and hold the ball up, key attributes as he looks to bring others into play.
But he can't play every minute. And he doesn’t quite provide the same aerial focal point that Dykes can, allowing the Scotland backline to hit him early when they might be under the cosh, safe in the knowledge that he will contest and scrap for everything to allow the arriving cavalry in the shape of John McGinn and Scott McTominay to pick up the scraps.
It is no coincidence that both of these players have thrived playing with Dykes these last few years, and have become massive goal threats for their country as they make runs off and behind him.
However, as much as it is a shame for both Dykes and for Scotland that he will miss the Euros, there is no sense crying over spilt antipodeans. Clarke must now turn his attention to a contingency plan, if any exists, to cover for his absence.
There has been the odd suggestion – both in number, and in terms of the wisdom, I might add – that Oli McBurnie may be the man to fill his boots. But Clarke already intimated when he named his original 28-man provisional squad that he would not be likely to pull anyone off their sun lounger should Scotland suffer any further withdrawals.
Instead, he dangled an incentive in front of the Scotland under-21 squad that the opportunity would be there for them to make the step up should any fresh injury worries emerge.
Clarke is a creature of consistency, so it would be quite something if he was to veer from that assertion. Which means the man most likely to be called up to the big leagues – assuming Clarke doesn’t simply decide to cut just one man from his provisional squad instead – is Bristol City striker Tommy Conway.
The 21-year-old is a highly seasoned professional in comparison to Ben Doak, though even he would concede that the Liverpool youngster’s natural ability eclipses his own.
But the forward has hit double figures now in back-to-back seasons in the English Championship, scoring 11 times this season (and bagging a winner against West Ham in the FA Cup) compared to Dykes’ tally of six. That also compares favourably to the 16 that Adams bagged in the same division for Southampton.
He won’t offer the same physical presence as Dykes, granted, but his all-round game has developed hugely over the last 12 months, with Bristol manager Liam Manning saying this about him in April: “He’s been great, I love working with him. He’s been one, I think we can have a real positive impact on his career.
“I don’t think he’s someone who has to chase anything too soon. If you look at his journey so far this season, he’s improving and getting much better.
“For me, he should be targeting 15 goals plus next season, that should be the aim for him. He’s someone, when you look at it, the defensive side is terrific.”
As any lone Scotland striker knows, that is a baked-in pre-requisite of the role.
Adams is even likelier to bear that burden of leading the line for Scotland now following Dykes’ withdrawal, with Lawrence Shankland occupying the supporting role. But Conway would seem to be the logical choice to be the next in line.
Providing, of course, he doesn’t pull a hamstring as he hightails it to make the flight to Faro.
