Lyndon Dykes: Family feel to Scotland squad can help drive us to 2026 World Cup

Lyndon Dykes believes the family feel to the Scotland squad can help drive Steve Clarke’s side to the 2026 World Cup finals.

The Scots began their Group C qualifying campaign with a goalless draw against Denmark in Copenhagen on Friday night and now move on to the second fixture of their September double-header against Belarus in Hungary on Monday night.

The 29-year-old Birmingham striker spoke about the camaraderie within the Scotland camp as he turned his focus to Belarus, who lost 5-1 to Greece in their opener.

He said: “We’ve always had that, especially since this manager came in and it has grown over time.

“There was a little spell where it got tough, but again, we know what these games mean, we know what they are.

“Games in the World Cup don’t come around so often and we need to make sure we perform, and we done that on Friday night.

“We all get on so well. There’s a few new faces in the squad but when they come in, it’s like a family and we show that on the pitch.

“So hopefully we can show that Monday and then we kick on from there.

“It’s definitely going to be a difficult game. You can’t take any game for granted, especially in these qualifiers.

“They want to win as much as we want to win so we need to make sure we’re switched on it like we were on Friday and obviously score a few goals, hopefully get an early goal and build the pressure and kick on from there.

“I think it was a great point. We put everything on that pitch. It was a tough game. Everyone worked really hard.

“We were under a little bit of pressure at the end there, obviously, them attacking and attacking and we were defending the box so well and Angus Gunn made some great saves at the end.

“But positive point. Definitely could have went both ways.

“They had a few chances, we had a few chances, but if we get a result on Monday, it’s a good start to the campaign.”

Dykes, whose partnership with Che Adams kept the Danish defence busy, was left frustrated by the opportunity he missed in the second half.

He said: “I think Che Adams puts it through the defender’s legs and I’m running up the pitch and my first thought is to take a good touch and have a shot on goal.

“There was as a defender so close to me, I take the touch and it’s a little bit wider than I wanted, but I take the shot and obviously he blocks it and on another day, maybe it goes under his legs and goes in that bottom corner.

“Looking back at that, maybe I could hit it first time, but it’s going that quick in the game – it’s just unfortunate.

“I’ll look back on that and hopefully another chance comes and I do better.”