The thankless task of being a Scotland striker

Who'd be a Scotland striker, eh?

Even after Steve Clarke's side picked up a potentially priceless point at Parken against Group C top seeds Denmark, the top two of Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes still came in for plenty of stick from supporters.

They don't score enough. They don't run enough. They don't do enough. Just some of the pelters the pair received following the first of six World Cup qualifiers.

To put it simply, that's just not true. In their own way, the determined duo worked tirelessly, disrupted the Danish defence and yanked the Scots up the field.

A man who knows exactly what that - and the criticism - is like, is former Scotland striker and BBC Sport Scotland presenter and pundit Steven Thompson.

"The job they needed to do for the team, they did," Thompson told the BBC.

"Their work-rate was phenomenal, they put in a power of work and created chances.

"Steve Clarke will be really happy with that. They do a lot."

Of the players selected to start in Copenhagen by Clarke, his strikers were ranked the lowest by BBC Sport readers, as the above graphic shows.

When asked about his deployment of the rugged forward duo, Clarke said; "If I am not brave, I might as well not be in the job."

Fortune favours the brave, and in this case, the Scotland head coach was the winner.

Adams has came off the bench in Torino's opening two Serie A games, while Dykes - who was linked with a deadline day move to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian - has mustered up a measly 23 Championship minutes in Birmingham's first four games.

At times that rust was evident, but their exuberance couldn't be questioned.

Dykes in particular was a menace. It was a throwback to his best days in a dark blue jersey where, full of commitment, he challenged for every long ball, hauled his team up the park and preoccupied the Danish defence.

It appears the bulk of that work goes unnoticed when a striker isn't scoring.

Dykes hasn't netted an international goal since he started the famous comeback against Norway in Oslo over two years ago, while Adams' hat-trick against Liechtenstein were his first Scotland goals in just over a year after scoring against Gibraltar before the Euros.

"Strikers, ultimately, are always judged on their goals," Thompson said.

"It's not easy but ultimately you know your job for the team.

"They need service, which there wasn't a lot of, but what I saw as someone who has been there, and what Clarke will have seen is their work-rate and what they do outwith scoring goals. And it's quite a lot.

"I thought they did more than well enough in the game, particularly Dykes.

"They pressed well and didn't allow the Denmark defenders to have an easy night. They were physical and put themselves about."

Adams won two of his six aerial duels, while his partner won seven from 11.

Seven of Adams' 10 passes found a team-mate while Dykes completed eight of his 16.

The Torino striker didn't have a shot at goal - though came agonisingly close to latching on to a teasing Ryan Christie cross - while Dykes had two. One, which, should have broke the deadlock.

The towering striker was slipped through by his pal up front, but inexplicably delayed, allowing Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen to scramble back and block the shot,

"Che 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," Dykes said post-match.

"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."

Notably, that question is plural.

If Clarke is to persist with his venturesome two-up-top approach, a goal or two wouldn't go a miss against pot four side Belarus on Monday.

Many will acknowledge it's a different game, which perhaps calls for a different set-up. Certainly different individuals after Clarke's men exerted every fibre of energy they had in Copenhagen.

The head coach said he always thought he would "need to make changes across the two games" and it seems inevitable following the tiring task in their qualifying opener.

Amid the annoyance at Clarke's ultimately spot-on starting XI on Friday, many punters were hopeful Hibernian's in-form forward Kieron Bowie would get the nod.

The 22-year-old has had a super start to the season for David Gray's side with two goals in three Scottish Premiership games and a certain goal of the season contender against Partizan in Conference League qualifying.

Thompson, who believes Bowie is the "most all-round striker" of the three, would like to see the Easter Road forward from the off in Hungary on Monday - live on the BBC.

"He's got the goals, he's got the physicality and he's got the link-up, but his work rate is phenomenal as well," Thompson added. "I'd like to see him given an opportunity."

With a chance to make it four points from an available six when they take on the lowest-seeded team in the group, Clarke has to seize this exciting opportunity.

Against the odds, he did so on Friday. Get it right on Monday and the Tartan Army will be dreaming of a trip to North America next summer.