Give the ball to Shanks and he will score
Lawrence Shankland was shackled in Moscow. But Aidan Connolly is backing his old teammate to shine against San Marino.
Connolly came through the ranks alongside Shanks – and Scotland skipper Andy Robertson – at Queen’s Park.
He has seen the damage the Dundee United hitman can wreak on defences with his own eyes.
Today at Hampden, Connolly expects the Sammarinese to see Shankland at his deadly best.
“I was absolutely buzzing for him when he got the call-up,” said the Falkirk star. “Then when I heard he was coming on in Russia, it was incredible.
“I think he deserves it. He scored goals consistently for Ayr United, now he’s doing the same for Dundee United.
“He has proved that if you give him service in the box, he will score – and I reckon that’s the sort of thing Scotland will need against San Marino.
“They will stick men behind the ball and it will be up to us to break them down.
“I think Lawrence will play because he can score goals in a game like that if the players around him can find him.”
Shankland is the latest name from the Spiders’ squad of 2012/13 to hit the headlines – but he isn’t the first.
Andy Robertson’s rise from part- time teenager to worldrenowned star has been rapid.
These days, he looks every inch the top-class, modern footballer.
But Connolly – who signed for Dundee United on the same day as Robertson – admits he had no idea at the time how far his teammate was destined to go.
“To be honest, it was a really good group there,” he said. “There was Andy and Lawrence, then there was Blair Spittal, who also got a move.
“If you’d said to me at the time I was playing with a guy who’d end up winning the Champions League with Liverpool, I wouldn’t have believed it. You don’t think about those things when you’re a teenager.
“You’re just trying to do your best whenever you get the chance to play. That’s the only thing that matters to you.”