Dykes finds a home in the Highlands and hopes for Euro boost
Lyndon Dykes hopes a training programme in the Highlands under the supervision of two former Scotland internationals will give him an edge for Euro 2020.
The Queens Park Rangers striker knows he faces a battle to secure a starting spot in the side when Scotland kick-off their Euro 2020 campaign two weeks today against Czech Republic.
Southampton striker Che Adams’ impressive start to his international career means Dykes is under pressure although the pair did start up front together in Scotland’s last outing against the Faroe Islands.
Dykes contacted Neil Mccann to ask if he would put him through some drills after the end of the Championship season in England. After six goals in his last eight games for QPR, Dykes wanted to maintain his fitness levels and hit the ground running with Scotland.
Mccann was still in the process of clearing his desk at Inverness Caledonian Thistle after a temporary stint as manager after John Robertson was given compassionate leave. The former winger asked Billy Dodds, his former Dundee, Rangers and Scotland teammate, to assist. For Dykes, this was a readymade specialist coaching team so he headed to the Highlands from London as soon as he could.
“I had a couple of weeks off as I’d finished a bit earlier in the Championship,” said Dykes. “Neil Mccann started working with my agency, so I went up there for a week and trained with Neil, Billy Dodds and Barry Wilson. It was really good just to get their experience.”
Dykes was given striker coaching by Dodds, inset, while Mccann and Wilson, another former winger who is now on the coaching staff at Inverness, provided the benefit of their experience as attackers.
“I really enjoyed it,” said Dykes. “I haven’t really had much of it in my career. Billy Dodds was a striker and I tried to take on as much as I could. Neil and Barry were great players as wingers and a lot of it was in an attacking sense, with a bit of fitness as well.
“I think they’ll take a lot of credit if I score!” added Dykes. “It was good to recharge and get away from everyone and make sure I was focused on football. We did play a bit of golf and I got to enjoy some downtime as well.”