EPL veteran claims 42-cap international made 'wrong decision' to represent Scotland

The Birmingham City striker was born in Queensland and played for the Australia under-20 and under-23 team, but moved to Scotland to play for Queen of the South as a teenager, and is eligible to represent the Tartan Army due to his parents hailing from Moniaive and Dumfries respectively.

Since making his international debut against Israel in 2020, Dykes has gone on to win 42 caps for Scotland and scored nine goals under the tutelage of head coach Steve Clarke. Dykes had spent several years playing in Scotland for both Queen of the South and Livingston, and rose to prominence at Almondvale in the 2019/20 season when his goal scoring exploits convinced EFL Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers to shell out a fee of £2million for his services.

During his hot streak at Livingston, the then-Australia assistant manager Rene Meulensteen flew out to scout Dykes ahead of a potential call up, prompting Clarke to make contact with the striker in order to discuss playing for the Scotland national team instead. The powerful forward then claimed he "went with my heart and my gut" and chose to play for Scotland.

He later said he had “spent a lot of time growing up” and “visiting family” in Scotland during his childhood, noting that his family has a history of supporting Scotland in sporting events, which made representing the country “feel natural” to him.

However, despite playing vital roles in Scotland’s qualification for the last two European Championships, ex-Chelsea and Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer claims the 29-year-old should have chosen to represent the country of his birth.

Speaking on the ‘Seaman Says Podcast’ in association with Betfair Schwarzer discussed the EFL League One side’s valiant 3-2 defeat to Newcastle United in the FA Cup at the weekend, where he mentioned Dykes: “What a difference a season makes. When you look at what they were like in the Championship last year. The off-field management seems to be getting itself right and all that as well. That makes a big difference.

“They’ve got Lyndon Dykes there, as well. He’s an Australian, even though he plays for Scotland. He should have played for Australia. Aussies, we kind of look at Lyndon Dykes like he's really Australian, but he just made the wrong decision,” he told presenter and former England goalkeeper David Seaman.