Red-hot Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland is refusing to take for granted that he will start the World Cup opener against Haiti. The new Rangers frontman bagged another goal for his country in Saturday's 4-0 friendly win over Bolivia in New Jersey, following up his double against Curacao at Hampden last week as Steve Clarke's side geared up for the tournament in America.
Shankland's Form and Mindset
Shankland looks nailed on to start this weekend in Boston against the Caribbean minnows, given his current goalscoring form. But the 30-year-old, who sealed his move from Hearts to Rangers before joining up with the squad, says he does not believe he is certain to be in Clarke's line-up. He stated: "No, never. You never assume anything in football. All you can do when you get the opportunity to go out on the pitch is put your best foot forward. Every time you go away with Scotland, all the boys feel the same. You do your best and try to get in the manager's head when he needs to make a decision."
He added: "That's all you can do. I've always approached it like that and I know these friendlies have been good for me. I've managed to get a few goals and my performances have been decent as well. I've been happy with that. In terms of what I can control, yes, I'm pleased with the case I can put forward. But I'll never, ever think I'm certain to play. You look at the quality and can never be presumptuous about that. No matter what role you're asked to play as a striker, everyone feels the same and we have a brilliant squad here. So whichever role I'm asked to play, I'll be ready to play it."
Performance Against Bolivia
Shankland was delighted with Scotland's performance at the Sports Illustrated Stadium against the South Americans. He got Clarke's side off to a perfect start before a Che Adams double and Scott McTominay's strike secured a victory before half-time. The striker says Clarke's boys dealt with the 90-degree heat well to rack up another victory and insists it was the ideal preparation for Haiti in Boston.
Shankland said: "There was a lot to be pleased about. It was a good performance and given it was a 4-0 win, we have to be happy with that. I actually felt we were good on the defensive side of the game and it was good to get used to the temperatures. When it comes to the pace of the game, you need to dictate that with the way you defend and I thought a lot of it was really good. On the other side, we showed our quality at the top end of the pitch with four good goals. It was a good win so ideal preparation for us."
