Scotland boss outlines plan to show misfiring Hearts star the love after 'tough time' in front of goal

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Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has revealed he intends to have a chat with Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland over his lack of form

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has outlined his intention to have a “good chat” with Lawrence Shankland over his struggles in front of goal this season - claiming he will do everything possible to help the misfiring Hearts striker rediscover his best form.

The 29-year-old Jambos skipper scored a whopping 59 goals in his first two seasons at Tynecastle but has managed just one goal in 16 appearances so far this term as the Gorgie club continue to falter at the foot of the Scottish Premiership table.

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And while some Hearts supporters have raised concerns over Shankland’s on-field body language in recent weeks, Clarke believes it’s time for people to “show a little bit of faith” in the 15-capped Scotland forward after naming him in his latest squad for the final Nations League double-header against Croatia and Poland later this month.

Lawrence Shankland has only scored one goal for Hearts all season.Lawrence Shankland has only scored one goal for Hearts all season.
Lawrence Shankland has only scored one goal for Hearts all season. | SNS Group

“I haven't spoken to him yet,” Clarke confessed when asked about Shankland’s current morale levels. “Obviously, I'll speak to him when he comes into camp. Last camp, Lawrence pulled out with a slight hamstring injury, so he wasn't involved too much the last time. I'll have a good chat with him this time and tell him that I still love him.”

“I think I've always shown I'm quite loyal to players that have been good for the country. Lawrence has been good for us. He's having a tougher time this season, but that happens. What you've got to do is you've got to dig in, you've got to work hard, you've got to come through it.

“At this time, he probably needs people to show a little bit of faith in him. Hopefully, he'll get the reward of that and we might get the reward as well.”

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The Scots sit bottom of Group A1 with one point from four games. They host the Croatians at Hampden on Friday, November 15 before travelling to Warsaw to face Poland three days later for the final international match of 2024.

Asked whether performances thus far have underlined the benefit of facing Pot 1 nations, Clarke responded: “I think so. I think we've shown that we can compete at this level. What we have to do is learn how to get results at this level. We did that against Portugal in the last one.

“It probably wasn't our best performance with the ball, but without the ball we showed that if you defend well and you don't give away cheap chances, you don't make two or three small mistakes in one action, you're not going to concede goals. If you don't concede goals, you've always got a chance to win games.

“I believe that this run of games, no wins. You can turn it any way you want. For me, we're improving, we're getting better, and we understand at this level what you have to do to get points on the board. Hopefully, it's coming (first competitive win of the year), but there's no guarantees because we're playing against good teams. We'll certainly do our best in the next two games to try and get a win on the board.

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“You get punished at this level if you don't do things properly, with and without the ball,” Clarke continued. “So we look to improve all the time, and if you don't improve, then obviously you won't stay at this level. So, like I said before, let's work as hard as we can to stay at this level and keep improving.

“Why would you want to drop down? We've worked ever so hard to get to this level, so we want to stay there as long as we can. That's always got to be your aim, to play at the highest level possible. For me it's pushing yourself against the top sides every time.”

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