Anya is confident frozen-out hitman can turn up the heat
IT IS never wise to second-guess a Gordon Strachan game-plan but, if ever a match looked ripe for some input from Jordan Rhodes, then this evening’s home qualifier against Gibraltar is surely it.
Frozen out for so long, Rhodes’ appearance in the latest Scotland squad came as a mild surprise but his second-half arrival against Northern Ireland in midweek showed how close the national coach is to utilising the penalty-box poacher competitively for the first time in almost 18 months.
Deficiencies in the 25-year-old’s link-up play have been cited for his protracted absence but, with Gibraltar expected to sit in, there will be a change of emphasis and possibly even shape for this game.
The most likely scenario would see Rhodes start on the bench again this evening but, if Strachan chooses to add an extra angle to his attack, winger Ikechi Anya for one would welcome an additional target to aim at.
‘I think Gibraltar are going to be quite compact and we are going to have to find a way to break them down,’ said Anya. ‘Jordan is one of those players that if you put anything in the box, then nine times out of 10 it will fall to him.
‘He is a finisher, one of the best in the English Championship. Nobody knows the team for Sunday but if he gets the nod, I’m sure he will put in a good performance.’
Rhodes’ last competitive cap came on the night Anya made his international debut in a World Cup qualifying defeat to Belgium in September 2013. After scoring three times in his first few Scotland games under Craig Levein, the Blackburn Rovers front man has faded from the scene during Strachan’s tenure.
While the team has improved significantly during the coach’s two-year reign, the central striker position remains unresolved. Steven Fletcher has been a consistent pick but has only netted once in a Scotland jersey, his solitary headed goal coming against Iceland in April 2009.
Denied several times by Northern Ireland keeper Michael McGovern, his midweek blank was a continuation of an ongoing goal drought at club level for Sunderland, for whom he has netted just four times this term.
Although Rhodes operates at a lower level in the Championship, his 16 goals represent a far healthier return and Watford player Anya, who has felt the effects of his killer instincts first hand, believes he could be crucial if Scotland struggle to make headway against the Gibraltarians.
‘He only needs one chance and he’ll finish it — sometimes that’s what you need,’ added Anya. ‘He might be quiet for much of the match but, once he gets that chance in the box, invariably he will take it. You always need to be alert when he is on the pitch.
‘If you can cross the ball there is a good chance he will get his head on it.’
Anya, who scored a fine goal in Scotland’s defeat to world champions Germany in the opening Euro 2016 qualifier, admits he will need to sharpen up his own finishing.
‘Northern Ireland was a good match to get our confidence up and I think in the first half we played really good football and could have been a couple of goals up,’ he said.
‘I had a couple of chances to score myself and I think we have to take confidence from the fact we eventually broke them down.
‘It might be that type of game against Gibraltar.
‘If we can be patient then the goal will come. If we had got the early goal on Wednesday, then we would have gone on to score a lot more.
‘It wasn’t to be but we won the game and that’s the main aim on Sunday, too — whether we win by one goal or four I’ll be happy.’