Tynecastle captain must convince Steve Clarke

Two starts, two goals and an assist since returning from injury illustrate Lawrence Shankland’s worth to Hearts. Quite simply, the team functions with far greater attacking threat when the captain plays. Two months out with a hamstring strain underlined his importance to the Tynecastle title quest, as if there was any doubt. But what of Shankland’s value to Scotland?

He was left out of last month’s squad and watched on television as the national team failed to register a solitary goal in friendlies against Japan and Ivory Coast. Just back involved at Hearts at the time, it is reasonable to assume Steve Clarke didn’t want to put extra demands on a player striving to regain peak fitness after injury. The World Cup is looming, though, and Shankland is staking a strong claim for a place in the final 26-man squad.

He returned to the Hearts starting line-up with a goal and an assist in the 2-2 draw at Livingston, then converted a crucial penalty in the dying moments of last week’s 3-1 win over Motherwell. He is the most prolific Scottish internationalist playing top-flight football right now after 18 goals in 31 games for club and country this season. One of those, of course, was Scotland’s second goal in November’s historic 4-2 win against Denmark at Hampden Park, which secured an automatic World Cup place for the first time since 1998.

Barring injury, Shankland seems a cert to be on the plane to the USA in June. He will use Hearts’ final five league games against fellow top-six sides to reinforce his claim. Indeed, the next few weeks could be career-defining for this predatory 30-year-old. Perhaps winning the Premiership title, should that materialise, would give him more chance of claiming a starting berth against Haiti in Scotland’s opening World Cup game on 13 June. Realistically, it is more likely to be Torino’s Ché Adams or Charlton Athletic’s Lyndon Dykes who lead the attack. Possibly both if Clarke feels brave enough.

The national coach is loathe to select anyone ahead of those two in competitive fixtures, and has received plenty criticism for his stance on the matter. Adams’ record is seven goals in 33 games in all competitions this season, his second in Italy’s Serie A. Dykes has five in 40 appearances as he looks to help Charlton stay clear of the English Championship relegation zone. Shankland’s ratio overshadows both by some distance. That might create a dilemma, or Clarke may decide to stick to his guns.

Others with a chance of making the World Cup squad are Ipswich Town’s George Hirst [10 goals in 40 games], Middlesbrough’s Tommy Conway [10 goals in 45 games], Southampton’s Ross Stewart [8 goals in 27 games] and Aberdeen’s Kevin Nisbet [11 goals in 43 games]. Hull City’s Oli McBurnie appears to be out of contention despite 15 goals in 36 outings for the English Championship side.

Barney Stewart has scored an impressive 10 times in 18 matches since returning to Falkirk from a loan spell at Dunfermline. His reputation is growing amid calls for Clarke to give him an opportunity. However, given he made little impact in two Scotland Under-21 matches last month, promotion to the senior squad for a World Cup would be premature.

For various reasons, the only serious challenge to Adams and Dykes right now is coming from Shankland. The immediate motivation is to help Hearts push for the league title and in the process earn a Scotland recall for the two pre-World Cup friendlies against Curacao and Bolivia. He wasn’t overly concerned about not making last month’s squad because he wasn’t quite at full capacity after injury. Clarke didn’t phone to explain Shankland’s omission.

“No, I didn't hear. I'm being presumptuous but I'll just go with that narrative in my own head for now,” said Shankland, speaking exclusively to the Edinburgh News. “Of course, I want to keep scoring for Hearts, I want to be a part of that with Scotland and go there [World Cup]. Hopefully, I can keep performing well and keep myself in the frame.

“I had only played 35 minutes against Dundee [as substitute] after coming back from injury. You always want to go away and play with your national team but you want to be fit first. The break was good for me. I got to use the time to work hard. I had an extra few training days to get back out there. If I keep scoring and assisting until the end of the season, I'll put myself in a good position to be involved with Scotland.”

Shankland is under no illusions that Hearts are the priority. The Edinburgh club are top of the league and set for a tense few weeks aiming for the first Scottish title since 1960. “First and foremost, you have to do well for the club. I know that, by doing well for the club, I put myself in a good position for the national team. It's pretty simple really. That's what I'll look to do,” added Shankland.

The sizeable task of ousting Adams and Dykes was made clear by McBurnie in an interview last week. He explained how he called Clarke to ask if he was still in contention for Scotland after missing out on the squad to face Japan and Ivory Coast. The response gave a clear indication of who the manager will rely on this summer.

“He said to me that he builds his squads on loyalty and that Ché Adams and Lyndon Dykes have done really well for him,” remarked McBurnie. “So he sees those two ahead of me. He doesn't see me as a third or fourth-choice striker, so he's comparing me against Ché and Lyndon, and he sees them ahead of me.”