Steve Clarke questioned over Scotland decision as Tartan Army leave jeopardy hanging over World Cup showdown with Brazil

Scotland boss Steve Clarke’s decision to favour Lyndon Dykes over Lawrence Shankland in the defeat to Morocco has left some fans puzzled.

Clarke’s side were beaten 1-0 in Boston on Friday leaving Scotland potentially with work to do if they are to qualify for the round of 32.

Scotland were unable to break down a resolute Morocco backline as they slipped to a 1-0 defeatGetty

Ismael Saibari’s thunderous effort after just 70 seconds was enough to condemn Scotland to their first loss of the tournament.

Scotland were left aggrieved after two penalty claims were waved away by the referee with John McGinn and Scott McTominay both taking tumbles in the penalty box.

A point against the Atlas Lions would have likely booked safe passage into the knockout rounds and Clarke made a host of changes in the hope of claiming a draw.

But it was his first change that sparked controversy with Dykes introduced as a 71st-minute replacement for Che Adams.

Dykes, who netted five goals for Charlton last season, was preferred to in-form striker Shankland.

However, the recently-signed Rangers man netted 20 times for Hearts last season as they agonisingly missed out on the Scottish Premiership title.

Meanwhile, talkSPORT’s Scotland correspondent Shebahn Aherne was left bemused by the decision to leave Ben Gannon-Doak out of the starting XI after his heroics against Haiti.

talkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino provided an insight to Clarke’s possible thinking in opting for Dykes.

Cascarino and Clarke were former teammates at Chelsea and he told the Weekend Sports Breakfast that the Scotland boss is often very measured in his approach.

“You could make the point that Lawrence Shankland started in the first game against Haiti and then with the substitution he chose to go with Lyndon Dykes instead,” Cascarino said.

“Whatever reason that is, we don’t know.

Lyndon Dykes struggled to make an impact after he was introduced in the 71st minuteGetty

“He might have thought, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll keep Lawrence Shankland for the game against Brazil. We don’t know if that will be the outcome.

“I don’t think he’s holding him back.”

The ex-Chelsea and Marseille hitman added: “I played with Steve at Chelsea, he’s very conservative with the way he thinks and I said to you last week, he never gets too high and he never gets too low.

“Steve is always thinking about maybes that could happen that gives him a chance and it’s served him really well being that kind of manager for Scotland.

“I think he’ll look at the Morocco game and then go into the Brazil game in a similar fashion.”

Steve Clarke made a bold decision to opt against using in-form Lawrence Shankland when chasing an equaliserGetty The Scotland boss has plenty to ponder ahead of Wednesday’s clash with BrazilGetty

Clarke must quickly pick up his troops for Wednesday’s glamour clash against Brazil in Miami.

Three points could be enough to escape the group phase as one of the eight best third-place teams, but Scotland could find themselves needing a point to be sure.

Cascarino believes Shankland is still very much in Clarke’s plans and could be better suited to playing against Brazil rather than Morocco.

“I don’t think Steve’s just gone, ‘you’re dropped’,” he added. “He might have just looked at Morocco and thought, I don’t really need a leader of the line against Morocco because of their high intensity, we’re never going to get players to join very quickly.

“Some might go well that’s wrong, you need a player that can do that.

“I just think he might have a little bit of a bigger picture in his mind as well because they could quite easily be the best of the third-placed teams to get through.

“You don’t want to get beat 3-0 or 4-0 and then definitely be out.”