\n<\/p>\n
What is clear, though, is the potential inclusion of Barnes to elevate Scotland’s attacking options.<\/p>\n
This is a Champions League player who is performing in a domestic division many perceive as the world’s most challenging.<\/p>\n
Barnes’ double against City on Saturday took his tally for the season to six in 18 games. Three of them have come in four Champions League matches.<\/p>\n
Since the start of last season, he has 15 goals and seven assists in all competitions from the wing.<\/p>\n
There is simply no other Scotland forward providing this level of output at this level for their club.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Barnes could have had a goal or two to his name by the time he drilled in a deadly opener, which showcased his direct running and ability to link up.<\/p>\n
His second, which proved to be the winner, demonstrated a poacher’s instinct, adjusting his body at close range to take an excellent first touch before burying on the rebound.<\/p>\n
Scotland have long lacked real pace, drive and quality in their attacking areas, even after the emergence of Ben Gannon-Doak, who has been a revelation for Clarke.<\/p>\n
That became clear when the Bournemouth winger was taken off on a stretcher in the first half of the incredible victory over the Danes last week. He has since had surgery on a hamstring injury and faces months out.<\/p>\n
Without the 20-year-old, Clarke’s side became predictable in open play and had no out ball during periods of relentless Denmark pressure.<\/p>\n
Barnes would be a big help in addressing that. The prospect of him playing off his favoured left side with Doak on the opposite flank is certainly an exciting one.<\/p>\n
However, it seems some pride will have to be swallowed for that to become a well-received reality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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What is clear, though, is the potential inclusion of Barnes to elevate Scotland’s attacking options. This is a Champions League player who is performing in a domestic division many perceive as the world’s most challenging. Barnes’ double against City on Saturday took his tally for the season to six in 18 games. Three of them<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}