Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scotland fan view: Goal in Georgia was down payment for ex-Aberdeen striker Lawrence Shankland’s Euro 2024 plane ticket

Despite the highs of the Scots' qualifying run, Shankland's old-fashioned centre-forward's header was only the second goal scored by a striker in the campaign. And we'll need strikers who can score at the Euros.

A Scotland player celebrates.
Scotland's Lawrence Shankland celebrates after scoring to make it 2-2 during the Uefa Euro 2024 qualifier in Georgia. Image: SNS.

Georgia has never been particularly kind to Scotland. Its footballers have often been present when potential milestones have turned into colossal disaster: in 1982, 2007 and 2015, to varying degrees.

Allowing this fixture to be second-last on their qualification schedule was therefore a bold move by the SFA, who owe a debt to the excellence of their players in ensuring progress was sealed before fate could be tempted to take another trip to Tbilisi.

That this was functionally a dead rubber, for both sides, means Scotland will need to wait for another time to pay the Georgians back for the dents they have put in their competitive record.

Consider Lawrence Shankland’s late leveller a small deposit, accounting only for the damage they could so easily have done to Scotland’s players with the highly aggressive, increasingly borderline fashion in which they sought to protect their lead.

It may also constitute a down payment on Shankland’s seat on the plane to Germany.

No wonder he celebrated it so heartily – having slipped so far down the pecking order as to fall completely out of the squad until Che Adams’ withdrawal, it was a good time to produce a moment of old-fashioned centre-forwardry.

Scotland’s Lawrence Shankland scores to make it 2-2 in Georgia. Image: SNS.

At major tournaments, you sometimes need your strikers to score

Almost lost among the near-miraculous winning run and the continuing marvels of McTominay is that Scotland’s strikers had previously contributed only one goal to the campaign.

Though what Lyndon Dykes’ presence allows the side to do is just as important as his pivotal strike in Oslo was, in major tournaments there is often a window where nothing but a goal will do. Shankland continues to show he is as likely as any to find the spot to score it.

If once more it is to be Shankland and Kevin Nisbet fighting over one jersey, there may be a new favourite.

Conversation