Meet the striker who doesn't score often - but Scotland win when he does

Meet the striker who doesn't score often - but Scotland win when he doesImage source, PA MediaByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writer in CharlottePublished16 June 2026, 22:33 BSTUpdated 3 minutes agoLyndon Dykes has his own place in the folklore of Steve Clarke's team, a shaven-headed cult hero, a striker who doesn't score very often but when he does, Scotland always win.Dykes has scored in nine different international games - twice in one - and has won the lot. He scored the winner in four of them. All of that goes back awhile, of course. He has only scored one international goal in three years and only scores intermittently in club football; six in 43 last season, six in 34 the season before, seven in 43 the season before that. Clarke values him regardless. Goals or no goals, his impact is measured in other ways; physicality, personality, energy. Dykes works himself to a standstill. That's a given, every single time.He has fetched up at the World Cup with a skinhead look. His team-mates like it that way. "They prefer the bald Dykes, a bit more aggressive, maybe," he says, before wondering aloud if he could get the whole team to go skinhead. The one player who would put up the most resistance? "McTominay," he replied, with a smile.Stag-do drag to World Cup - the rise of Scotland's other national anthemPublished10 hours agoCape Verde - Scotland's template against Morocco?Published2 hours agoAsk pundits McCann & Crichton your World Cup questionsPublished7 hours ago'I never thought I'd be in situation like this'Dykes made his World Cup debut off the bench on Saturday, another landmark in a sporting career that began in rugby league and Aussie Rules in his native Australia, before a relatively late switch to football and a journey that's taken him to America via Queen of the South, Livingston, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic.He's a character, a good st...