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Amid Hearts woes, has Lawrence Shankland forgotten how good he really is?
It may be hard for Lawrence Shankland to remember just how good a striker and a goalscorer he really is, given that everyone and their dog is reminding him of the poor run of form he is currently suffering through.
That is exactly what he has to do though according to his teammate for both club and country, Craig Gordon, who has played with and against his fair share of quality frontmen over the years.
The veteran keeper has been as surprised as anyone to see the remarkable numbers that Shankland has posted over the last couple of seasons fall off so dramatically since the summer, with his headed goal against Ross County in late September – for which Gordon is jokingly claiming an assist - still the solitary occasion when he has found the net in this campaign.
That downturn in form and fortune in front of goal though hasn’t deterred Scotland manager Steve Clarke from selecting Shankland in his squad for the Nations League games against Croatia and Poland either side of this weekend, a vote of confidence in his abilities when his own confidence seems to be at rock bottom.
With Che Adams having withdrawn from national service this time around through injury, Shankland is likely to get some game time too, with Lyndon Dykes and Tommy Conway the other strikers at Clarke’s disposal.
If Shankland does get the nod to pull on the dark blue once more, Gordon is certain that he won’t let his country down, and he is convinced that the goals will soon start to flow once more for the 29-year-old. There would be no better time or occasion than Friday night at Hampden for those floodgates to reopen.
“I think sometimes just talking about it just keeps it in the air,” Gordon said.
“It's best maybe not to speak about it too much.
“I know how great he can be, I’ve seen that day-in, day-out for the last number of years. I just hope that he remembers that and how good he actually is, because when he is firing and confident then everything he touches turns to goals.
“He's such an incredible finisher and in and around the box. If anything lands to him, you just always expect him to put it in the net. It doesn't happen for a couple of months and everyone starts talking about it.
“I just hope he remembers how good he is and that feeling he has had over the last couple of years, and how much love that the fans had for him at that point.
“He's a fantastic player and I'm sure he'll get back to scoring goals. I can't help him with that too much. I went up for a corner and took the defenders away so he got his goal this season, but I can't help him with much more that! I’m taking that as an assist!
“But everyone knows what a good goal scorer he is, and sooner or later that will come back.”
The curious thing is that Shankland seems to be as good as ever in front of goal away from matches.
“We've been training with him over the last few weeks, and you can see in training that he's giving absolutely everything,” Gordon added.
“At times, his touch has been really good. He's been scoring goals in training, and that just hasn't materialised in matches, but I've absolutely no doubt whatsoever that he'll be back scoring goals very soon. He's too good a player for that to last for any length of time.
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“It's great that he's here, and to be shown that support and that he can still be that main striker, that go-to guy to get a goal.
“He’s still the one, especially at Hearts, that we turn to and that we rely on for goals, and I'm sure he'll be back before too long.”
The Scotland support didn’t expect that Gordon would be back so soon in the national set-up, after he looked to have bid the Tartan Army an emotional farewell following the game against Finland prior to the European Championships, having not been selected for the squad that travelled to Germany.
An injury to Angus Gunn though and a lack of other options coming through has opened the door to the 41-year-old once more, and he is desperate to add to his Scotland accolades, after being presented with a commemorative jersey to mark his 75th cap back in June.
“I still have it,” he said.
“Seventy-five is a great number. We get a medal for 25 and 50. I don't know, do we get one for 75? 75 is quite a big number to get to.
“It's still an important one. I probably didn't foresee how the next few months were going to pan out like this at that particular time, I thought that probably would be the last one.
“But football is a funny place, you just never know what's around the corner, what's going to happen. It's now about taking this chance to try and stay in the team.”
Having made two appearances for his country since then, he will edge Alex McLeish out of the top five most-capped players of all time when he takes the gloves against Croatia.
“It’s great to be up at that end,” he said.
“Looking at the names round about that, that have played so many times for Scotland, it's a huge achievement.
“It's a very difficult thing to do, to play that many games. So, yeah, I'd be delighted to move another place up.
“Who knows how far I can get, but it's great to be at that point where every person that you manage to take over now is an actual legend of the Scottish team and the Scottish national team.
“So, to be at that end, at this stage in my career, I'm obviously delighted to be there.”
