Lawrence Shankland has taken his Scotland chance with a second international goal amid growing Rangers chatter.
The Hearts captain, 28, got a late call to join up with Scotland and did his Euro 2024 hopes no harm by netting a late equaliser against Georgia.
Finding that crucial bit of space in the box, Lawrence Shankland nodded home a fine injury time equaliser to ensure Scotland escaped Tblisi with a draw.
But as all that talk around Rangers continues, as it has for the bulk of his career, it’s not just his latest goal that proves a move for Lawrence Shankland simply makes sense.
Not a single Rangers player in Scotland XI
Ok, so whilst Lawrence Shankland technically came off the bench for Germany-bound Scotland, the Rangers point still stands.
There were no Rangers players in the starting XI as the nation played Georgia, whilst, unlike Lawrence Shankland, Ryan Jack and Robby McCrorie failed to get off the bench.
John Souttar might’ve started for Scotland if fit but he’d do well to dislodge Ryan Porteous, who was linked to Rangers before moving to Watford, or Scott McKenna, who is out of contract at Nottingham Forest in the summer.
A level of snobbery exists in the Rangers camp for these sorts of players, not that their Hibs and Aberdeen connections help.
But with homegrown quotas to adhere to in UEFA competition – where the club effectively need eight homegrown players – it proves the Ibrox side are getting it wrong.
It means out of the eight Scottish players Rangers effectively need in their squad the club do not have a single good one for the country’s starting XI.
With none of the club’s players coming off the bench either, Lawrence Shankland is probably better than just about any homegrown option we have at the club.
Rangers should not swerve Lawrence Shankland
The reality is that Rangers need to be targeting the best Scottish players – within reason – because they fundamentally need Scottish players in the squad.
It is actively hamstringing the club in Europe – see this season’s Europa League squad for example – and the club are paying the price.
There have been several high-profile Scottish players slip through Rangers’ fingers in recent seasons, not least Scotland substitute v Georgia and form Bologna midfielder Lewis Ferguson.
With links to Rangers through dad Derek and uncle Barry, the former Aberdeen midfielder has defied the Rangers youth set-up and is genuinely tearing it up in Serie A.
Lawrence Shankland is a bluenose, goalscorer and – as his continuing performances with Hearts show – a leader.
There’s a reason why the likes Lee McCulloch and Barry Ferguson want the striker in Glasgow.
The level of arrogance with regards the striker, especially when the club need top Scottish players, really makes you ask if not Lawrence Shankland, then who?
