Lawrence Shankland is the man to fire Scotland out of the group stage at Euro 2024.
National team hero Colin Hendry believes the Hearts frontman should be on the plane to Germany as part of Steve Clarke’s squad this summer for the European Championships.
The 28-year-old has 13 goals in 21 Premiership matches so far this season and is continuing to prove that he’s among the best goalscorers the country has to offer.
Hendry can foresee Shankland playing in the English Championship before too long, however, he insists as long as he’s banging them in for Hearts between now and the end of the season, then there’s no way he can’t be selected.
“It's a big ask,” to qualify from the group containing Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. “I do see similarities going back to '96 and '98 in relation to when we qualified for the Euros and the World Cup.
"The one thing is the striker though and where the goals are coming from. We're quite blessed at the moment in central midfield with McGinn and McTominay and a few others but what we really need is a striker.
"Now there is one striker at this minute in time scoring goals in Lawrence Shankland, but whether he makes the trip or not will be interesting.
"You've got to have somebody in the squad who's actually physically scoring goals at a respectable level, so for me - he's in the Premiership, he's scoring goals, he's going to possibly be sold in the summer, it's all there for him at this moment.
"He went off to Belgium and came back, and he found that tough but he's come back and he's kicked on again and that's what you need to do - try out different levels and see where you're at.
"He's come back to a level that he knows about and he's kicked on, he's scoring goals for Hearts.
"There's a big gulf between the Premier League and the Championship. I could see him playing in the Championship possibly but I'm not trying to punt him. He's a Hearts player, he's scoring the goals and for me he should really be going to Germany.
"You need a goalscorer irrespective of the level. Even against Georga for Scotland, you saw it when he came off the bench and scored."
