New Lyndon Dykes habit can be a big trump card for Birmingham City this season | OneFootball

Lyndon Dykes is making a habit of scoring late goals from the bench this season for both club and now country

Lyndon Dykes scored for the Scotland national team for the first time in over two years on Thursday evening in the Tartan Army's 3-1 victory over Greece, with the target man continuing to bag late goals after being introduced from the bench once again.

Birmingham City striker Dykes has struggled in his country's colours as of late, having not scored a goal for his nation since June 2023 before Thursday evening, when, just like he has been doing for the Blues, he came off the bench to grab a late goal.

Having fallen behind at Hampden Park courtesy of a Kostas Tsimikas goal, Scotland almost immediately equalised thanks to Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Christie, and would then take the lead in the 80th minute from a Lewis Ferguson strike.

With the game entering its closing stages, manager Steve Clarke introduced Dykes from the bench, a role he has become accustomed to this season with Birmingham, and the Blues forward would capitalise on a mistake from Greek goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis and fire into an empty net.

This has put Scotland second in their World Cup Qualification group, level on points with Denmark, in what is a crucial win for Scotland's hopes of heading to America in 2026, with Dykes confirming the three points.

Lyndon Dykes new goalscoring habit could prove to be a trump card for Chris Davies and Birmingham City

If Birmingham thought they were going to walk to the Championship just as they did in League One last season, then they were wrong.

The Blues collected a record total of points in the third tier last campaign with 111, romping their way to the title, and ahead of this season, expectations were placed highly on the Midlands club from fans and pundits alike.

Birmingham reinforced their attacking options with the signings of Marvin Ducksch, Kyogo Furuhashi, Lewis Koumas, Demarai Gray, Patrick Roberts and Kanya Fujimoto, yet it has been Dykes who has scored as many as them combined nine games into the new season.

Dykes' two goals this campaign have both proved to be late winners from the bench, first against Blackburn Rovers and then at home to Swansea City.

It was expected that Jay Stansfield would be the main man up top for Birmingham this season, with the incoming Ducksch set to play more of a role than Dykes, who scored just once in League One last season.

However, as it has transpired, Dykes has featured in all but one game this season thus far, with manager Davies recognising the striker's knack for making an impact from the bench, having won them four points alone at this stage thanks to his goals.

Dykes's role off the bench could prove to be a real trump card moving forward this season, as when Birmingham are in desperate need of a goal, they can count on Dykes to be their man.

Birmingham City could utilise Lyndon Dykes to great effect this season

Three wins, three draws and three defeats nine games into the new Championship season has Birmingham sitting in 16th place heading into the second international break of the campaign; certainly not the position Davies would have been hoping they were in.

The second tier appears to be as competitive as ever this season, with no real standout candidates having emerged in the early stages like Leeds United, Burnley or even Sheffield United last season.

Coventry City have been the standout team in the league thus far, sitting top of the league with a positive goal difference of 20, with five wins and four draws at this point.

Birmingham will still fancy their chances, however, and if Davies can get his side to hit the back of the net on a regular basis this season, there is little reason as to why they cannot be there or thereabouts come May 2026.

Dykes' role will likely remain from the bench as the season progresses, and when Birmingham find themselves in a tight match and in need of a goal, they have an ace up their sleeve from the bench.