Forgotten Scotland striker sends big reminder to Steve Clarke amid fears over star hitman’s fitness

Scotland srtriker’s goal for Luton Town against Cardiff served as a timely reminder to Scotland head coach Steve Clarke that he is ready to return to the national squad.

The 26-year-old has not played for Scotland since November 19 of last year, due to a significant knee injury sustained at the start of 2024. Brown, who has eight caps, just returned from rehab and scored his second goal of the season as Championship strugglers Luton secured a vital 1-0 victory over Cardiff.

Jacob Brown scored the game’s sole goal at Kenilworth Road on 57 minutes, heading in a corner from Alfie Doughty. He was replaced by Elijah Adebayo four minutes later.
Clarke picked his Scotland squad for this month’s Nations League A1 games against Croatia at Hampden and Poland in Warsaw on Monday, with Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes, Lawrence Shankland, and Tommy Conway as forwards. Adams’ fitness is called into question after he limped off while playing for Torino at the weekend.

While Clarke admitted that if Adams does not make it – “It’ll be scanned and assessed by his club, and we’ll find out later in the week whether or not he’ll join up,” Clarke said on Monday – he already has good options at his disposal; Brown, on the other hand, may come into his consideration if a space opens up in his squad. The former Stoke City player was snubbed for Aberdeen’s Kevin Nisbet last month, but with more minutes under his belt at Luton, his goal on Wednesday could have grabbed the attention.

Meanwhile, Scotland playmaker Ryan Gauld will try to propel the Vancouver Whitecaps into the semi-finals of the MLS Western Conference Playoffs in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Gauld, who is on Clarke’s November double-header roster, will captain the Whitecaps away at LAFC at BMO Stadium in the early hours of Saturday morning, following their 3-0 triumph over the weekend that tied the series at 1-1. Stuart Armstrong, a fellow Scot, is also likely to participate.

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