Steve Clarke is “praying” first-time call-up George Hirst can help fire Scotland to Nations League A safety and beyond as the head coach stresses the importance of staying in the top tier.
Scotland’s last nine goals have been scored by midfielders, defenders or opposition players, with Lawrence Shankland’s strike against Finland in a friendly last June the last time a forward found the back of the net.
Head coach Clarke is hoping the Ipswich Town forward can fix that particular problem, though he hinted the Scots may go with an experienced team in the first leg of their play-off double-header against Greece.
“It’s nice to have new faces around there,” Clarke said in Athens.
“A bit of youth as well, which is always good, and hopefully, a little glimpse of the future.
“But obviously, we’ve got the boys that have done ever so well. We’ve got lots of experience, lots of caps and maybe, the situation, the atmosphere here tomorrow and the opponents that we’re playing needs an experienced team on the pitch.”
That suggests Torino’s Che Adams will lead the line for Scotland but, Hirst, who has four goals this season, timed his third perfectly when Clarke scouted him in their FA Cup penalty shoot-out defeat by Nottingham Forest two weeks ago.
“He’s good, obviously. He’s a big lad,” Clarke said of the 26-year-old.
“He’s scored some goals recently, which is good. I’ve always liked him. He’s similar in style and stature to Lyndon Dykes. Hopefully he can bring as much to the team as Lyndon has always brought to the team.
“He’s a target player. We’ve always tried to have that type of forward player because we feel we’ve got goals in the midfield.
“I pray that George can help us to maybe score a few more goals.”
