The Lyndon Dykes Scotland era in March reached the 50 cap milestone, adding him to the Scotland International Roll of Honour. He has 10 Scotland goals to his name, often important ones, as well as 4 assists. Yet 30 year old Dykes has critics who argue he is an out of form player who peaked years ago. Steve Clarke though has made it clear he sees Dykes and Che Adams as his 2 first choice strikers for World Cup 2026. Does Lyndon Dykes still deserve that loyalty from Clarke?
This article has been updated to include the above subsequently taken image.
| Name | Lyndon Dykes |
| Age | 30 |
| Club | Charlton Athletic |
| Club’s division | English 2nd tier |
| Club’s division Opta ranking | 81.0 (9th globally)* |
| SMNT caps | 50 |
| SMNT goals | 10 |
| Most recent SMNT cap | March 2026 |
* Opta info as per 8 May 2026
Lyndon Dykes Scotland background
Lyndon Dykes was born and raised in Australia to parents who both originated from the Dumfries locality. Remarkably, his elder sister Hollie, is a former Commonwealth Games gold medallist in gymnastics for Australia. Among other sports Dykes played, he favoured rugby league when he was young. In his teens though he switched to pursue a career in football.
After touring England with the Australian schoolboys team, Dykes visited relatives in his parents’ home town. That led to Dykes playing for the local club in Dumfries, Queen of the South. The young Dykes used his height and athletic build to his advantage on the pitch, combined with a fearlessness & physicality expected for someone from a rugby background. Dykes impressed as a hardworking, out and out team player. Stephen Dobbie with 43 strikes broke the Queen of the South seasonal goal-scoring record in 2018/19. Notably, it is no coincidence his strike partner was a future Scotland internationalist, in the burly shape of Lyndon Dykes.
Next, Dykes joined Livingston where he added goals to his game, notching a useful 14 strikes from 36 games. After scoring v Celtic, in a game v Ross County he became the 1st Livi player to score a top flight hat trick. Dykes in August 2020 then left Livi to join Queen’s Park Rangers in England’s 2nd tier.
Lyndon Dykes playing in England
Dykes ended his 2020/21 first season at Loftus Road with a creditable 12 goals and 5 assists. That is Dykes’ best single season return, both in England and anywhere in the UK when including the 2 Livi goals he scored that season pre-QPR transfer. In each season since, his goals output & assists have steadily declined, often through decreasing minutes on the pitch. An exception though is the season just ended in which his goals & assists output per min is in uptick. The table below is based on league games with data from Transfermarkt. As well as QPR, his other clubs in the table below are Birmingham City (BC) & Charlton Athletic (CA).
| Season | Club | Division | Mins | Goals | Assists | Mins per goal | Mins per G&A | G&A |
| 20/21 | QPR | Eng 2 | 3068 | 12 | 5 | 256 | 180 | 17 |
| 21/22 | QPR | Eng 2 | 2416 | 8 | 3 | 302 | 220 | 11 |
| 22/23 | QPR | Eng 2 | 2964 | 8 | 2 | 371 | 296 | 10 |
| 23/24 | QPR | Eng 2 | 2743 | 6 | 1 | 457 | 392 | 7 |
| 24/25 | QPR | Eng 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| 24/25 | BC | Eng 3 | 931 | 1 | 0 | 931 | 931 | 1 |
| 24/25 | Total | 936 | 2 | 0 | 468 | 468 | 2 | |
| 25/26 | BC | Eng 2 | 420 | 2 | 1 | 210 | 140 | 3 |
| 25/26 | CA | Eng 2 | 1517 | 3 | 3 | 506 | 253 | 6 |
| 25/26 | Total | 1937 | 5 | 4 | 387 | 215 | 9 |
Perhaps the most interesting info in that table is the bottom row highlighting Dykes’ contribution in his most recent season. Specifically, Dykes’ output was a goal or assist every 215 mins in which he played. Dykes’ challenge in the last 2 seasons, is that he hasn’t established himself as a regular 1st choice pick. That is despite spending the 2nd part of the season with a Charlton side battling relegation.
Lyndon Dykes Scotland numbers
Congratulations Lyndon Dykes, in March collecting your 50th full cap, earning a place on the Scotland international Roll of Honour. Now let’s crunch some numbers. This is the Dykes average across his entire 50 caps.
| Games | Mins | Goals | Assists | Mins per goal | Mins per G&A | G&A |
| 50 | 2878 | 10 | 4 | 287.8 | 206 | 14 |
However, consider this simple breakdown of Lyndon Dykes Scotland goals:
| Years | Games | Goals |
| 2020-22 | 26 | 8 |
| 2023-26 | 24 | 2 |
That table breaking down his Scotland career into approximately 2 halves, is a picture of a declining goalscoring record.
Looking below at the goals Dykes has scored, he isn’t the type to only score against what some people somewhat disrespectfully dismiss as ‘diddy’ teams. The following graphic is a screenshot so don’t expect any hyperlinks in it to work.
In the 24 games Dykes has played from 2023 onwards, he has only scored twice. Further, the last of his 4 Scotland assists was that sunny evening for Kenny McLean, winning 2-1 v Norway in June 2023. Since that Euro 2024 qualifier in which Dykes also scored, he has one Scotland goal and zero primary assists. As Stephen Dobbie will tell you though, there is much more to the hardworking Dykes’ game than that.
Team form in the Lyndon Dykes Scotland era
It would be narrow-minded to look at Dykes’ form purely on the small sample of data above. It is worth bearing in mind that at the time of the win in Oslo, Scotland were a side very much in the ascendancy. Two games later, Scotland had also notched up wins at home v Georgia (2-0, remember the rain?), and 3-0 in Cyprus. Indeed, Scotland at this point were very much a form team in Europe. Scotland’s 5 straight wins out of 5 Euro qualifiers was part of a run 15 win from 18 competitive games.
Then though from the 1-3 home challenge game loss to England in September that year, Scotland performances have often been poor. Bear in mind though, Scotland more recently played in a higher Nations League group than they did when on that 21 game streak. At least though the Scots have sometimes eked out important results when not playing so well recently.
Have poor performances by Scotland since September 2023, been due to poor form by Dykes (in the games he has played)? Or has the decline in Dykes’ output since then been due to poor performances by the Scotland team? Or maybe a bit of both?
Dykes’ strengths & weaknesses
Dykes is big, strong, athletic & physically imposing. He has an excellent reputation as a bubbly, enthusiastic member of the squad. So much so, he asked to travel on an away trip even though injury pre-departure meant he’d no chance of playing. There’s rarely if any question of Dykes’ effort in a Scotland jersey. He’ll put himself about and run for 90 minutes, both in attack and defending from the front.
Since the September 2023 performance decline, some good Scotland performances have still occasionally been displayed. In September 2025, Scotland battled to a “creditable goalless draw” away to “a high-quality Danish side”. Early in the 2nd half, Che Adams with terrific link up play put Dykes clean through on goal. Dykes though lacked the ability to get quickly his shot in to at least test the goalkeeper. His brief fumbling of the situation was sufficient to allow the Danish defence time to block his attempt on goal. Dykes’ critics assert that Lawrence Shankland, in contrast, would only have needed 1 touch and the Danish goal would be under fire.
And that sums up what many of Dykes’ critics feel. Furthermore, many voice that 90 minutes of all out battling is the minimum to be expected from any Scotland striker. They further suggest it is qualities on top of that minimum in which Dykes is lacking. More specifically, Dykes isn’t a natural goalscorer in the way Shankland & Ross Stewart are.
Lyndon Dykes Scotland importance
Adam Cleary before Euro 2024, described Steve Clarke’s Scotland have a playing style as follows:
- Be difficult to score against (and thus by extension, difficult to beat)
- Shutting the backdoor, means scoring chances will be relatively few for Scotland compared to other teams
- Compensate for that by making excellent use of transitions
- Scotland thus while producing a low number of chances, they produce a proportionally very high number of high-quality chances
Cleary further adds that it is ironic that the role of the Scotland strikers, isn’t really to be centre-forward goalscorers. Instead it’s to receive the ball & bring others into play, and to drag defenders out of position for exploitation by the surging Scott McTominay & John McGinn.
Dykes is especially favoured for being the 1st line of defence, harassing opposing players in their own 1/2 of the pitch when they have possession. Among Dykes’ best performances in that role, was in the tremendous 2-0 win v Spain at Hampden.
Which strikers are competing with Lyndon Dykes for a place in the World Cup squad?
The following table is for comparison below.
| Division | Opta rating | Opta global ranking |
| German 1st | 86.6 | 2nd |
| Italian 1st | 86.1 | 4th |
| English 2nd | 81.0 | 9th |
| German 2nd | 77.6 | 19th |
| Swedish 1st | 77.2 | 26th |
| Scots 1st | 75.5 | 39th |
Adams
Che Adams like Dykes is well established as one of Steve Clarke’s 2 preferred strikers. Adams is another hard working player and is a better on the ball than Dykes. Adams though like Dykes isn’t a natural finisher. Nor is Adams physically imposing in the manner that big & strong Dykes is. Adams missed Torino’s game at the weekend due to injury, but is expected to make the World Cup squad.
Shankland
Dykes hasn’t Shankland’s finishing ability but is seen as more athletic than Shankland. And for all of Shankland’s renowned finishing ability, he has never scored consistently at a level rated higher than the Scots top tier (currently ranked 39th in the world). It’s unrealistic to suggest Dykes has been a star performer in England’s 2nd tier in the 4 1/2 seasons he has played there. That is though a level ranked currently 9th in the world, much higher than the Scots top tier at 39th.
Ure
Robbie Ure‘s current goal streak in Sweden is eye-catching. Sweden’s top tier though is ranked 26th globally, again lower than the level Dykes plays at. And it remains to be seen if Ure can sustain that scoring burst on a long term basis.
Bowie
Kieron Bowie now seems to be finding his feet with 3 goals in his last 7 Serie A games for Verona. Bowie has impressed sufficiently for reports this week of interest from Bologna. Bowie can match Dykes physicality. Serie A in which Bowie plays is an excellent standard (4th highest globally), & his career seems in upswing. Like Ure though, Bowie is still to prove he can deliver at that level for a sustained period. If Bowie transfers to Bologna from soon to be relegated Verona, he may get his chance.
Stewart
Stewart as well as matching Dykes’ physicality, offers much more prolific goalscoring when he plays. Therein lies the catch with Stewart. Dykes easily has a superior record of durability against injury compared to Stewart’s woes of the last 3 years.
Hornby
Dykes can also claim anatomical durability compared to the start-stop injury record of another physically imposing striker, 6 foot 5 giant Fraser Hornby. Hornby despite doing well recently for Darmstadt in Germany’s 2nd tier, regrettably missed their game at the weekend through yet another of his injuries.
Burke
Oli Burke playing in the German top flight plays in a higher Opta ranked division currently than any other Scots striker. While Burke is both tall & among the fastest players in Europe, Burke like Dykes has no reputation for consistent goal scoring.
McBurnie
Oli McBurnie ended the regular season as equal 2nd top scorer in England’s 2nd tier with 17 goals. Whoscored reported him as the 4th highest rated player in that division in the regular season just ended. Among his goals, some were penalties. Also though, McBurnie contributed 7 assists.
Physically imposing McBurnie seems to offer everything plus more on the pitch than what Dykes can. McBurnie though in the past, hasn’t always been a candidate for a gleaming character reference in the way Dykes has been and still is. Could that be why Clarke again selected Dykes in the latest internationals break (March), despite the much superior form McBurnie has output this season?
Conway
Tommy Conway has been in good form for Middlesbrough since late January (e.g., 5 goals in his last 6 games. Conway is another though who has penalties enhancing his strike rate). However, Conway is a different type of player from the physically imposing Dykes. Conway in the 2nd half of the season has played largely on the left. Hence, both Conway and Dykes could potentially be accommodated not just in the squad at the same time, but also on the pitch at the same time.
Hirst
And then there’s George Hirst. Hirst came out of the March international break with an enhanced reputation. Offering everything Dykes offers in terms of physicality, Hirst appeared in those March games to be a more realistic, menacing goal-scoring threat.
Based on form, is Dykes a legitimate Scotland World Cup pick?
This is totally subjective based on what someone wants from a striker in a Scotland team. However, in terms of goals and assists output, no he isn’t.
Based on current form, Conway, Hirst, McBurnie & Stewart all had much better ends to the regular league season, playing in the same division as Dykes. Bowie is coming into decent form, playing like Adams in one of the ‘big 5 divisions’. Ure is on a scoring streak in Sweden. Shankland has 3 goals & an assist in his 4 starts since returning from injury, for top of the table Hearts. Shankland & Ure though have the division they play in counting against their case for World Cup squad inclusion.
Will Steve Clarke take Lyndon Dykes to the World Cup?
Barring injury, as per Dykes missing Euro 2024, Clarke almost certainly will take Dykes to USA. McBurnie was recently reported as having rung Clarke to ask what he has to do to be selected for Clarke’s squad. McBurnie is further reported to have been told by Clarke, that he (Clarke) is loyal to Adams & Dykes. Importantly, that loyalty is born from the trust that battle-hardened Adams & Dykes have earned playing for Clarke. Crucially, Scotland have a style of play visualised by Steve Clarke. Lyndon Dykes & Che Adams are the men he trusts to implement that style of play. And when Clarke mid-game needs a goal, he can sub on Lawrence Shankland.
Prospectively, Scotland face potentially backs to the wall group games versus highly rated Morocco & Brazil teams. Lyndon Dykes will fancy his chances of starting both those matches in his role as Scotland’s 1st line of defence.
