NEW STRIKER SO GRATEFUL
KEITH JACKSON
LET’S start by stating the obvious. If Lyndon Dykes doesn’t cut it as a Scotland striker it won’t be because of a lack of self-confidence. Yesterday the big Aussie handled his first media conference after defecting to Steve Clarke’s squad – held over a Zoom call from the lobby of the team hotel – and he took to it like, well, a duckbilled platypus to water. A sense of belief oozes out of this 24-year-old and it’s probably something to do with his journey halfway around the globe and four years that have seen him rocket from a pokey B&B in Dumfries to a £2million international in the big lights of London. If he talks a good game it’s because he plays an even better one and Dykes has certainly not signed up for Scotland duty just to make up the numbers. “The sky is the limit for this team”, is how he put it, which is not exactly a very Scottish way of viewing the national side. Twenty-two years of self-isolation from major tournaments will do that to you. But there’s something pleasantly infectious about this newcomer all the same. “It would be an honour to be in the team who does that,” said Dykes, when asked about the opportunity to help fire an entire country out of lockdown and into next summer’s postponed European Championships. He may have got his timing just right. Dykes said: “I am a little bit confident. But I’m only new to international football, only new to this whole experience. “I want to learn from what the boys have. It would be an honour to lead the line – but I know I’ve got to work hard for that. I’m just going to put my head down and see what happens. “It does feel good to be here and be part of the set-up, meeting all the boys and getting ready for the game. “A lot of people would k.jackson@dailyrecord.co.uk have said that playing for Australia would have been the easy route.
“But, with the squad they have here in Scotland and the boys coming through as well, it’s only a matter of time before we get back to where we should be.
“My job is to do my best and push Scotland on further. With the squad they have, they should be pushing as hard as they can.
“If the nation gets behind us, the sky is the limit. We should be getting the country back to where it was, qualifying for finals.
“I’m here to work hard, I’m here to learn. And I’m here to hopefully score some goals – and get Scotland to where they should be.
“Scotland gave me my chance for my career. I have only played professional four or five years but without Scotland, God knows where I would have been.
“I wanted to give something back to Scotland. When I am here I feel like I am at home.
“Without Scotland I wouldn’t be playing football.”
Told you you’d like him. Yes, he may sound about as Scottish as Crocodile Dundee but there’s little doubt his heart is in this.
The more he talks about the reasons behind his his decision to pick Scotland, the more obvious it becomes.
He said: “If I was playing for Australia there would have been a lot of travelling. But my head was already with Scotland even before I signed for QPR.
“My parents are Scottish, my son was born in Scotland – the country gave me my chance in my career – and I love being in Scotland, even though I’ve just moved to England. I’m still going to be travelling up here. The move to England came at a really good time and now we’ve got the international call-up, as well, so it’s been a crazy last few weeks.
“My parents were over the moon when I told them. They were both born in Scotland, I’ve got Scottish blood in me and yeah, they were chuffed for me. So was my wife and my kids.
“I came to Scotland for a few holidays when I was younger, with my dad. It was a small village, Moniaive, and I remember it snowing.
“My favourite memory was smelling all the chimneys in the town, something that always stuck in my head.”
And now it’s his career that’s on fire. One season of bashing up top-flight defenders for Livingston and Dykes has hit the big time.
In fact, during lockdown it did appear as if he might end up at another Rangers – not the one operating out of Loftus Road.
This last year then has been one big dizzying head spin. He said: “It’s been a bit crazy, especially the last few weeks. I’m the type of person, when a lot of things are going on, I just get on with it.
“Especially in football, people say things and it never happens, or there’s a lot of stuff that people say that isn’t true.
“When I was at Livingston, I enjoyed my time there, everyone was great. I think I improved and now it’s my time to improve even more. I can get even better at QPR.
“I’ve enjoyed the first two weeks and now it’s internationals, so it has been crazy.
“I’m really happy though and I just want to work hard and be the best I can, really.”