Is Hibs ace Kieron Bowie ready to start for Scotland? Gaffer cites key factor in favour of forward
Former Fulham forward has UEFA Conference League wonder goal on CV after six-game total immersion in European football
Scotland are getting a much-improved footballer as a result of the Hibs striker being fast-tracked through six high-level European club games, according to Easter Road boss David Gray. And Gray says Bowie will only benefit from further exposure to the international game as Steve Clarke’s men kick off their World Cup qualifying campaign away to Denmark and Belarus.
Bowie led the line to great effect against Midtjylland, Partizan Belgrade and Legia Warsaw as Hibs pushed all three teams to extra time, with the 22-year-old centre forward even scoring a wonder goal in front of a watching Clarke as the Easter Road side knocked Partizan out of the UEFA Conference League. That experience, according to Gray, has added an extra element to a front man who earned his first Scotland cap – just 12 minutes as a late sub in the summer smashing of lowly Liechtenstein – last time out.
Scotland kick off their World Cup 2026 bid away to Denmark in Copenhagen on Friday night, with Belarus ‘away’ – behind closed doors in neutral Hungary – next Monday. The entire six-game Group C campaign will be finished by mid-November, with the group winners going straight through to next summer’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA, while the runners-up are pitched into play-offs scheduled for next March.
Could 22-year-old ‘throwback’ centre forward start for Scots?
Insisting that former Fulham and Raith forward Bowie will be ready if called upon by Clarke, Gray – delighted to say the striker fully fit after the need for hamstring surgery interrupted his first season in Edinburgh - said: “Yes, I think he's another one that's improving all the time, which has been great. I think he's done really well on the European stage.
Technical ability added to brute strength
“He's maybe a type of player that players in different leagues aren't used to playing against, that type of striker. A big, strong, physical, almost a throwback striker with the hustle and bustle that Kieron puts you through.
“But he's also got the technical ability, which we've seen as well, which has been a real plus for us this season. I spoke a lot about his injury and dealing with that and how he's come back.
“I think he's come back a better player because he's been able to look at areas of his game, the physicality side to it. He's far stronger now.
“He's growing in his body all the time as well. So I think he's learning to use it a lot better. And there's a lot more to come with Kieron.
“And I think all the players that played in Europe, to be honest, will really benefit from playing at that level, playing against top players, different styles of play. And then Kieron will benefit again from going away with the national team, a top coach, and the best players in Scotland have got to offer.
“All training together makes the players better as well. And he'll learn a lot from the experience he's going to have in the next, whatever it is, ten days as well.”