Seb Pocognoli’s November Scotland Men’s National Team (SMNT) squad will be announced today. Following our article on wingers, in the last of our series of pre-squad announcement articles, we explore Scotland strikers to assess who is likeliest for a call-up.
Ché Adams
| Age | 30 (13.07.1996) |
| Current club | Torino |
| Current club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.4 (4th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 50 (13 goals, 3 assists, 3136 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
When Adams subbed on in stoppage time for Lawrence Shankland against Brazil at the World Cup, he became the 44th Scotsman & first non-white among those 44 to reach 50 full Scotland caps.
He has played 193 mins this season in Torino’s 3 Serie A games. His 2 goals in those 193 mins include the worldie at 1.36 mins in the video of this 2-1 defeat at Milan 3 weeks ago. He has scored 17 times in 72 Serie A games. With Oli McBurnie & Robbie yet to score this season in the EPL & Primera División respectively, & Oli Burke injured so far this season, no Scotsman has scored as many goals in such a highly ranked division this season as Adams. However, his place in the forthcoming Scotland squad is in serious doubt due to an adductor injury yesterday.
Latest update
Injured Adams wasn’t among the Scotland strikers in the last international break. A 7.10 FotMob rating indicates the good form he is in. He has 4 goals from his last 8 Serie A games. Can he though convert that club strike rate into goals for Pocognoli’s Scotland outfit, configured to create more chances than in the more defensive Steve Clarke era?
Kieron Bowie
| Age | 24 (21.09.2002) |
| Current club | Sassuolo |
| Current club division | Italian 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 85.4 (4th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 6 (1 goal, zero assists, 147 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
14 September update
Bowie needed his first Sassuolo goal after his Summer transfer there from Hellas Verona. Yesterday in his 6th Sassuolo game and 4th for them in Serie A, he broke that threshold, scoring with a composed low finish winning 3-2 versus Juventus. He subbed on in the 71st minute after producing unconvincing numbers in his prior Sassuolo games.
He similarly needed 6 games at Verona before his first goal after joining them in January. That goal in January though was the first of 4 goals in 9 games in which Juventus were also on the receiving end. Like Adams, no Scotsman has scored in a higher Opta ranked division this season than Bowie.
Latest update
Among many talking points from the previous international break was that Kieron Bowie impressed most among the Scotland strikers. He was the only striker to score in those 4 games. Can he become a regular Scotland goalscorer?
He is yet to set the heather on fire for Sassuolo. In 10 Serie A games, he has subbed on in 6 of the last 7. He is yet to add to his one Sassuolo goal mentioned in the previous sub-section.
Oli Burke
| Age | 29 (07.04.1997) |
| Current club | Union Berlin |
| Current club division | German 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 86.4 (3rd globally) |
| SMNT caps | 13 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
He was documented last season at the 2nd quickest speed recorded of any player in Bundesliga history. Watch him in this video eat his opponent for breakfast in a foot race before scoring, at 4 mins 52 secs into this video.
For all the speed that he has to burn, though, his output such as this fantastic goal & this hat trick are frustratingly infrequent. Hence the 6 years since he was last in a Scotland squad.
He hasn’t made his club’s matchday squad since a pre-season game in July. Injury to an Achilles tendon means he won’t be in Poco’s squad tomorrow.
Latest update
Burke on 10 October made his comeback from injury. He has played in 3 games this season, subbing on to play only 55 mins in total so far. He currently seems unlikely to be recalled among either Scotland strikers or wingers.
Lyndon Dykes
| Age | 31 (07.10.1995) |
| Current club | Millwall |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.6 (10th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 53 (10 goals, 5 assists, 2955 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
Dykes, for all his hard work & similarly to Adams, has been criticised like other recent Scotland strikers for lack of goalscoring. Many were tipping Dykes to be omitted from Pocognoli’s first Scotland squad tomorrow, with upcoming players such as Bowie taking over. However, Dykes has responded in the best way possible for a striker with 3 goals in his last 3 Millwall games. That gives him 3 goals from the 299 mins he has played across 6 Millwall league games this season.
Latest update
Dykes added to this 3 Millwall goals mentioned above to give him 4 in 4 games. He hasn’t scored in any of the subsequent 6 Millwall games. However, he notched 2 assists in those 6 games.
Ryan Gauld
| Age | 30 (16.12.1995) |
| Current club | Vancouver Whitecaps |
| Current club division | USA/Canada combined 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 79.2 (17th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 6 (zero goals, zero assists, 107 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
Among the players happiest with the consolidation of 4 games into 1 international break is Ryan Gauld; it’s a long return flight from Vancouver to Scotland. Will he though be selected for the Scotland squad?
Gauld had a 6 months knee injury in 2025. A 9 game comeback at the end of that year was merely punctuation before knee injury ruled him out until May this year. After a slow start coming back, he has increasingly found form & is now yet again a major creative spark in the Whitecaps attack. He has 2 goals & an assist in his last 4 games among a plethora of impressive attacking stats (see for yourself on FotMob or Flashscore). A blemish though is his penalty miss yesterday in the 2-1 home defeat by FC Austin. He recently scored his 50th career Whitecaps goal.
His injury difficulties mean he hasn’t been in a Scotland squad since November 2024. All 6 of his full caps were sub ons in the Nations League that Autumn.
Latest update
Gauld is currently right on top of his game. 3 goals & an assist in his last 4 games contribute to his tremendous 7.55 FotMob rating. In a sign of his consistency, FotMob rate him at least 7.0 in 16 of his last 20 games for his club. Given his positional deployment, it could be argued that rather than among Scotland strikers, Gauld should be categorised in the midfield.
George Hirst
| Age | 27 (15.02.1999) |
| Current club | Stoke City |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.6 (10th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 10 (1 goal, zero assists, 373 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad | No |
14 September update
Hirst was one of the few to emerge from the March internationals with an enhanced reputation. That though was 6 months ago. He is the only one of the 5 strikers in the World Cup Scotland squad not to play any match time there.
After successfully helping Ipswich Town to promotion to the EPL last season, he transferred in the Summer to Stoke City, again in the 2nd tier in England. In all 7 Stoke games in which he has played so far, he has either subbed on or off. On 5 September he got off the mark with his first Stoke goal, winning 4-0 at home versus Charlton. He is yet to convince so far, though, with his numbers since joining Stoke.
Latest update
Hirst currently is churning out underwhelming stats. E.g., Flashscore rate his league performances this season at 6.4. His FotMob stats are similarly unconvincing with a rating of 6.27. He has one goal & 1 assist so far this term.
Fraser Hornby
| Age | 27 (13.09.1999) |
| Current club | Wolfsburg |
| Current club division | German 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 77.6 (29th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 0 |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
13 goals & 9 assists last season in his 27 Darmstadt league & cup games as a supporting striker earned Hornby a Summer transfer to Wolfsburg, staying in Germany’s 2nd tier. Those 27 league & cup appearances regrettably, though, tell part of the Hornby story; his durability against injury is poor. Injury ruled out any outside chance of a late call-up for the World Cup.
At Wolfsburg he subbed off at HT at Hannover in the 2nd league game of this season. He hasn’t yet recovered to subsequently appear in a matchday squad. He thus won’t be named in the Scotland squad tomorrow.
Latest update
Regrettably little change for Hornby. His Achilles injury has kept him out of the Wolfsburg matchday squad since mid August.
Oli McBurnie
| Age | 30 (04.06.1996) |
| Current club | Hull City |
| Current club division | English 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 92.1 (1st globally) |
| SMNT caps | 20 (0 goals, 1 assist & 1009 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
14 September update
It’s should he or shouldn’t he time for Pocognoli with regards to McBurnie. McBurnie more than any other will feel Steve Clarke’s resignation opens the door to international football rejuvenation. Despite McBurnie’s excellent 2025/26 season winning promotion with Hull City to the EPL, he was omitted by Clarke for the World Cup squad. Was McBurnie an (unfortunate?) victim of some kind of Steve Clarke no dickheads policy ?
McBurnie’s stats in the rarefied air of the EPL aren’t what they were last season when a division below. Hull though as a team are high flying currently 3rd in the EPL table, unbeaten with 2 wins & 2 draws at this early stage of the season. Tigers boss, Sergej Jakirovic, earlier this month endorsed McBurnie for a recall:
“This is a question for the new head coach of the Scotland team. But he deserved to be at the World Cup already because he had great numbers last season and he is very important as a team player. Even in our two games this season, he just missed scoring a goal and didn’t have a lot of chances because he worked a lot for the team and his presence is very valuable to us and the team. He is a leader without being captain. He’s important to us and I expect that he will get the invitation for September.”
Latest update
Recalled Oli McBurnie played in all 4 games in the previous international break. Hardworking & credited for his hold up play, he is still though yet to chalk up his elusive first SMNT goal.
McBurnie boosted his club stats with 2 goals (including one penalty) & an assist in his 2 most recent Hull games. Added to his assist for Ryan Christie against Slovenia, McBurnie can claim to be in good form with 2 goals & 2 assists in his last 4 games.
Kevin Nisbet
| Age | 29 (08.03.1997) |
| Current club | Aberdeen |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.8 (39th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 11 (1 goal, 0 assists, 178 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
Not since the March 2025 Nations League playoffs v Greece has Nisbet been in a Scotland squad. He has a headline 10 goals to his name so far this season. However, in terms of a Scotland recall, that goals tally is less impressive when considering 6 were in the League Cup against lower division opponents. Nisbet was on the scoresheet on Saturday in Aberdeen’s 10 man, League Cup quarterfinal win at Kilmarnock.
Latest update
Nisbet has tallied 3 goals & 2 assists in the last 6 games for a Dons side yet to find form this season. They are currently 10th in the 12 team Scots top flight. When the Scotland strikers are named later today, Nisbet isn’t expected to be among them.
Lawrence Shankland
| Age | 31 (10.08.1995) |
| Current club | Rangers |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.8 (39th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 22 (7 goals, 2 assists, 833 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
Shankland has moved this Summer from Hearts to Rangers, where after a slowish start he was coming into form. However, on 5 September versus Motherwell at home, he subbed off with a recurrence of the hamstring tear he suffered in January when still at Hearts. He is projected to be out of action for 4 months and thus has no chance of being in the Scotland squad tomorrow.
Latest update
While many Scotland strikers are criticised for not being natural goalscorers, that isn’t usually suggested of Shankland. However he remains unavailable due to injury.
Barney Stewart
| Age | 22 (07.04.2004) |
| Current club | West Bromwich Albion |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.6 (10th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 0 |
| In most recent SMNT squad | No |
14 September update
Barney Stewart is finding out that the 2nd tier in England is much more competitive than the top tier in Scotland, even to get into the team. In the 9 games since he joined West Brom in the Summer he has accrued only 149 mins of playing time. He thus won’t be named tomorrow in the Scotland squad.
Latest update
Encouragingly, Stewart tallied 3 goals & an assist in two U21 games in the most recent international break. Very much a West Brom squad player, he usually either subs on or off his club. 2 weeks ago he scored his first goal in senior English football, in the 3-2 comeback win against Blackburn Rovers. He is yet to be named among Scotland strikers at senior level. He is though a player with time on his side.
Ross Stewart
| Age | 30 (11.07.1996) |
| Current club | Swansea City |
| Current club division | English 2nd tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 80.6 (10th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 4 (0 goals, 0 assists, 63 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | No |
14 September update
Stewart managed to convince Clarke he was worth the injury risk of taking to USA. Subsequently, he joined Swansea in the Summer after leaving Southampton. He debuted for Swansea on 15 August in a comeback attempt from his latest injury, subbing on in the 81st min. Regrettably injury recurrence means he has not made it into a match day squad since. Hence, he has no chance of being in the Scotland squad tomorrow.
Stewart is a dangerous forward & natural goalscorer when he gets game time. His injury record though is regrettably dire. His international career could be over.
Latest update
Stewart was included 2 days ago in an opinion piece spotlighting the 10 most frustrating players in the EFL. Rarely among current Scotland strikers, Stewart like Shankland is a natural goalscorer when he gets game time for a club. The question of injury risk though is never far from Stewart’s name.
Looking at Stewart’s appearance list this season on Flashscore, it is once again regrettably dominated by injury. However, media reports have since highlighted that his absence was due to rule misunderstanding by Swansea. Specifically, those are rules around requirements to fulfil requirements of at least 7 homegrown players in a matchday squad.
More encouragingly, Stewart started his first Swansea game on Saturday. In the 59th minute he scored the 4th in the 4-0 home thumping of Blackburn Rovers. With the game wrapped up, Stewart subbed off 3 mins later.
Robbie Ure
| Age | 22 (26.02.2004) |
| Current club | Sevilla |
| Current club division | Spanish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 86.7 (2nd globally) |
| SMNT caps | 4 (zero goals, zero assists, 116 mins) |
| In most recent SMNT squad? | Yes |
14 September update
His sensational 20 goals in 20 games this season took Sirius to top of the league in Sweden, earning Ure a big money move to Sevilla in Spain. He though is another finding life tougher at a higher standard of football. Consequently, hard working Ure is yet to convince in his 5 games in Spain as he settles in there. In some ways he is similar to Bowie after Bowie’s moves to & within Italy; namely, he needs a goal to get himself off the mark at his new club.
Ure is widely tipped to be named among Scotland strikers in his maiden squad call up tomorrow. Also, he has dual eligibility with Ukraine via the grandparent rule. Since he is over 20, one second of competitive game time for Scotland will eliminate that dual eligibility.
Latest update
Ure played for Scotland in the last international break. Hence his Ukraine eligibility is now a thing of the past. He either subbed on or off in each of those 4 SMNT games in that break.
He is a squad player at Sevilla usually subbing on or off for them in La Liga. He has 2 goals & 1 assist in his last 5 games in Spain. However, less impressively, one of those goals was against Hortaleza in the cup. Hortaleza play in the 6th tier of Spanish football.
James Wilson
| Age | 19 (06.03.2007) |
| Current club | Heart of Midlothian |
| Current club division | Scottish 1st tier |
| Club division Opta rating | 74.8 (39th globally) |
| SMNT caps | 2 (zero goals, zero assists, 30 mins) |
| In most recent Scotland squad? | Yes |
14 September update
An encouraging start to the season for young Wilson with 4 goals in his last 6 games, including a long range stunner against Inverness CT. Such has been his form, some are advocating he is worth a Scotland squad recall. Given his youthful years though, would he be better in the U21s where he’d not just get more game time? He’d also help there in the attempt to turn Scotland into a competitive force again at age group level.
Latest update
Pocognoli initially called Wilson up to the SMNT squad for the previous international break. However, like Findlay Curtis, Wilson then transferred to play both of the U21 games in that break. Wilson scored in the 5-2 win against Azerbaijan U21s. He has no goals nor assists since in his one game for the U21s and 7 games for Hearts. He has not made a SMNT matchday squad since World Cup warm up v Curaçao. With Adams returning from injury and possibly a reduced squad size from the last break, Wilson is likely to again feature in the U21 squad for this break.
.jpg){kind=link}
