RHODES READY
Strachan says it is time for Scots to deploy ‘best out-and-out goalscorer’
GORDON STRACHAN last night declared Scotland and recalled striker Jordan Rhodes ready to work together at long last as he prepared to field the nation’s ‘best out-and-out goalscorer’ in a competitive fixture for the first time in 18 months.
The national manager kept the Blackburn Rovers hitman in exile as he went about honing a system for the improving Scots, saying that Rhodes was not a fit for the international game he wished to create.
But the striker followed up his surprise return to the squad with a substitute appearance in the midweek friendly win over Northern Ireland — and Strachan last night confirmed that the 25-year-old will be let loose on minnows Gibraltar at some stage of this evening’s Euro 2106 tie.
Strachan is set to deviate from his 4-2-3-1 formation in a bid for goals and that could hand Rhodes a start in a two-man strikeforce against the Group D rookies.
It would prove a hit with the Tartan Army, whose favourite Rhodes’ appearance in a qualifying game was as a substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in September 2013, after which Strachan said he was committed to a style that ‘doesn’t suit’ the £8million forward.
Now Rhodes and Strachan’s plans are equipped to blend, with the manager explaining: ‘I think we’ve evolved since he was last in the squad and, although he has not evolved with us, I think he has the intelligence to get better all the time because he can take things in.
‘But I think he would find it easier playing with us now than it was two years ago. I’d say we make it easier for a striker to play with us now.
‘He’s probably the best out-and-out goalscorer we’ve got. But that wasn’t the criteria to get us kick-started back then with where we wanted to go.’
Rhodes missed 11 Scotland fixtures during his omission but is set to earn a 14th cap with a second Hampden appearance in five days.
‘(His selection) can’t be a one-off because we are playing two games,’ said Strachan. ‘He’s already been playing in one and he’s going to play in another one. So that’s two.
‘We have a few players who could find this the right type of game for them. I picked the squad with that in mind. It’s up to everyone to play well enough to be in the side.
‘I can’t say anyone will have a major role in the future. If I said “he has a major role” and someone comes into the position and is better, he’ll have a major role. It’s up to you to play well enough to be in there.’