Scotland boss Steve Clarke insists misfiring Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland needs all the support he can get to help end his surprising run of form.
Shankland has struggled to find the back of the net this season and is a shadow of the player he was last campaign when he was crowned PFA and SFWA player of the year.
Incredibly, the 29-year-old has just one goal in 16 games for Hearts and it’s no wonder why the Jambos are currently second-bottom in the Premiership.
But Shankland has been called up for Scotland’s next round of UEFA Nations League fixtures by Clarke who clearly still has faith in the forward.
In fact, Clarke went as far as saying he still adores the Jambos skipper and wants to give him the best chance of reaching top form again.
Clarke ‘still loves’ misfiring Shankland
Clarke told the press after announcing his latest Scotland squad: “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. Last camp, Lawrence pulled out with a slight hamstring injury, so he wasn’t involved too much. I’ll have a good chat with him this time and tell him that I still love him!”
Che Adams injury gives Shankland Scotland chance
Shankland will have a better chance of starting in the games against Croatia and Poland later this month if Torino striker Che Adams drops out.
Adams was called up by Clarke despite suffering a thigh knock on Sunday as Torino lost to Fiorentina 1-0 in Serie A.
Clarke has Shankland, Tommy Conway and Lyndon Dykes to fall back on anyway and with that, he doesn’t plan on calling up another forward if Adams can’t join the camp.