Scotland assistant John Carver confident Lawrence Shankland will regain his scoring touch

Scotland assistant John Carver believes Lawrence Shankland will start scoring again soon and thinks it might be “a bit of a relief” for the striker to be away from Hearts.

The forward has been a prolific striker in recent seasons, with his goalscoring form propelling him into the Scotland set-up.

Shankland netted 33 goals for club and country last season but his scoring touch has deserted him this season, with the 29-year-old only having one goal so far as Hearts have struggled.

Steve Clarke has stuck by the forward and called him up for the Nations League clashes against Croatia and Poland. After Torino striker Che Adams was forced to withdraw due to injury, the focus on the other forwards in the squad increased.

In addition to Shankland’s trials, Lyndon Dykes has only one goal to his name for Birmingham, while young striker Tommy Conway has scored five at Middlesbrough.

Carver insisted that all forwards go through goalless spells but thinks Shankland is still doing the right things.

“I watched the game against Omonia because it was my ex-team, and he had a couple of chances,” the coach said. “And listen, when you’re a good player, and you’re a goalscorer, eventually that barren spell happens.

“He’s around good people, we’ll help him. Sometimes it’s a bit of a relief coming away from club football, because you’re in a different environment.

“We all know what he’s about. He’s a goalscorer, he gets between the posts, he plays inside the 18-yard box. If he has to play for us or start or come on, that’s what we want him to do, and we’ll encourage him to do that.

“The good thing is, he’s actually getting into those positions to actually try and score goals. It’s just not coming off for him now, where it did last season and the season before that. So, everybody’s in full support of Lawrence. We love him to bits, and the players around him understand it.

“You’ve got Dykesy in there, you’ve got young Tommy Conway, who’s just starting his career, and everybody’s being supportive. They actually sit next to each other in the dressing room before training, which is good and the spirit’s good.

“I sat with Lawrence this morning, having a good chat with him and he’ll be okay.”

Scotland have found life tough since being promoted to the top tier of the Nations League and now face two critical matches as they complete their group games. Having taken just one point from the opening four games, in a 0-0 draw with Portugal last time out, the team need points to avoid relegation back to League B.

However, two wins, with other results going their way, would see the team jump into second place.

Carver has been pleased with Scotland’s performances against some of the best teams in Europe but the challenge is now for the team to produce results.

“I think we’re in a good position where we have two games to go and it’s still all to play for,” he said. “That’s a good thing.

“I think we can be encouraged by the performances. We should be sitting here with more points but we haven’t got that and that’s a fact.

“I think there’s a confidence within the group of saying ‘Right, we’ve got two games to go and it’s all to play for’.

“There’s an outside chance that if it all goes our way then we might finish second.“

The coach is also of the opinion that getting the points needed to avoid the drop would be crucial to the development of the team and individuals.

“What we’ve done over the years is worked hard to get into this position,” he said. Which is fantastic.

“We don’t want to disappoint by falling out of that group.

“You only benefit by playing against the best teams and the best players. Our young players will develop and we’ve got quite a few young one s now who’ve come through and they’re gaining massive experience for the future.”