I always relished playing with a partner in prime
Dykes is thriving beside Che
With Stephen Dobbie at Queen of the South he had an instant connection.
At QPR now, he can feel chemistry building with Charlie Austin.
And Lyndon Dykes believes he can forge a goal- scoring double act with Che Adams that takes Scotland all the way to the World Cup.
The big striker enjoys having a sidekick up front alongside him to share the load.
He first experienced it at Palmerston with Queens hero Dobbie, who once got 43 goals in 45 games with the Aussie-born target man beside him.
At Livingston Dykes got success by mastering a lone striker role and that got him a move to the Engl ish Championship.
But at Loftus Road under Mark Warburton he’s thriving off his link-up with penalty-box poacher Austin.
And with the national team, gaffer Steve Clarke has now devised a system that allows for a pairing of Dykes and Southampton ace Adams.
Last month he bagged winners for Scotland against Moldova at Hampden and, crucially, in Vienna against Austria.
That sets us up for next week’s double header against Israel and the Faroe Islands, knowing six points will put us in pole position for the play- offs.
Dykes loves having Adams alongside him and hopes it can yield as many goals as his partnerships with Dobbie and Austin.
He said: “The partnership with Che has been good. When you’ve got two up front it helps us in an attacking sense and causes more trouble to opposition defenders.
“Since Che has come in we’ve done well together. We get on well off the pitch too which always helps.
“Hopefully we can get even better and get goals between us.
“Obviously, it helps when you both get on. But sometimes on the pitch, when you’ve got a connection, it just links up anyway – even if you aren’t as close off it.
“I remember when Dobes first came to Queens. In our first game there was just this connection straight away – and I didn’t even know him.
“When you’ve got that connection as strikers it’s one of those things that comes naturally.
“I learned a lot from Dobes. I played with him early on in my career as a professional – I was a late developer.
“Playing with him and having that connection straight away really helped me, as well as watching his finishing.
“Sometimes he took all the limelight but I just worked hard on my own game.
“Playing with different players has helped me get to where I am now. It always helps playing with quality.
“Che has the qualities to complement what I do. I think I bring a lot of players into play.
“When Che is there hopefully I give him chances.
“If defenders are worried about me hopefully it gives him more free space and vice versa.”
Dykes scored for QPR against Preston yesterday, taking his combined tally with Austin to eight goals in eight Championship games.
That’s yet more proof he is far more effective when working in a duo.
The hitman said: “I work hard for the team, I’ve always been like that.
“As my career has gone on I’ve turned into a more natural No. 9 and I’m scoring more since going from
Livingston to QPR. I’m not a selfish player so when it’s there for someone else to score, I’m happy about that.
“As long as I’m helping the team with assists and goals, I’m happy.
“Myself and Charlie work really well together, similar to with Dobes and now Che.
“Che came in last season and right away we had that connection.
“He’s a great striker who’s had a brilliant career.
“Charlie has helped me and defences have more to worry about when we are together.
“As a partnership, it gives you that split second more to get free in the box and get a shot away. He’s also a great guy off the pitch. He’s always looking to help you and is over the moon if you’re doing well.
“That’s rare to come by in football. I’m really happy that he’s playing at QPR with me.”
Dykes’ early goal against the Moldovans in September earned Clarke’s side a vital victory before the trip to Vienna.
He stepped up to slot home a penalty in Austria that reignited Scotland’s World Cup hopes.
Dykes is now on four goals for his adopted country – and admits he’s chasing the squad’s top scorer John McGinn on 10.
He said: “I’d like more goals in the coming games, definitely. That’s what people look at and I’ll be over the moon if I keep banging them in for Scotland.
“Hopefully I can catch up with McGinn. But as long as I keep doing well for the team and what the manager wants, I’ll be happy.
“The Moldova goal was so important and both of those games were massive for us.
“We’ve been doing well as a team and with each game we feel we’re getting better.
“Hopefully we can bring that into these next two games, especially Israel in the first of the double-header.
“We need to make sure we’re switched on for that because we need
a result.” A win in front of a packedcked Hampden next Saturday wouldd set Clarke’s side up perfectly for a crackck at the play-offs with the Faroes up next a week on Tuesday.
Dykes said: “It’s going to be exciting. ng. It’s great to be back at Hampden with ith a full stadium, that really helps us when we’re playing games there.
“But Israel are not some easy team m that we’re going to push over. It’s t’s going to be a tough game.
“But we’ve all been down the hard d route with the Euros and other r things. So it’s another big game to o look forward to and enjoy.
“With the quality we have, if we e turn up on the night we can get the result we need.”