It would be a crying shame if international football has slipped way down the priority list of Jordan Rhodes. Despite being Oldham-born, he has displayed an admirable commitment to Scotland which was typified by a record-breaking scoring spell in the country's under-21 team.
But, at the same time, it would be wholly understandable if the Blackburn Rovers striker spent this week considering his future as a Scotland player. Rhodes will miss Scotland's game in Macedonia on Tuesday night after aggravating a hand injury; he also has plenty to ponder.
It has been patently obvious for some time that Gordon Strachan, the Scotland manager, doesn't much fancy Rhodes in the lone-striker role which is now commonplace for a team who are battling to avoid finishing rock bottom of their World Cup qualifying group. The private concern over Rhodes, and to be fair not only from Strachan, is that he lacks the ability or mobility to run channels and his place in such a formation would therefore place too much stress on wide midfield players.
Scotland, however, should have learned long ago to make the best possible use of what scant resource it has available. Which renders Strachan's Sunday newspaper quotes in direct relation to Rhodes even more bemusing.
Explaining Rhodes's status in his squad, Strachan confirmed his belief that the 23-year-old is "at his best when playing with another striker". The manager added that a 4-4-2 set-up makes no sense for the Scots before stating, bluntly and needlessly: "It leaves Jordan, like many people, with a system which doesn't suit him."
So there you have it. In one fell swoop Strachan has essentially written off Rhodes's prospects of a regular Scotland starting place while he is the manager. There will be no adaptation to suit available players, rather Scotland deploy one which utilises extra, and only decent, midfield players. If Rhodes won't play, he has little chance of convincing Strachan to the contrary.
The debate over what system Scotland should play is probably best left to tactical anoraks but one thing is clear – with four goals from eight qualifying matches, a variation on one striker has failed.
When fit, Steven Fletcher will be Scotland's first pick in attack. Going by recent history, he will also be the only one, which should not fill the Sunderland player with anticipation.
Like governments, football managers shouldn't be entirely exempt from probing or criticism simply on the grounds of what trouble may have come before. In Scotland, it has become media commonplace to batter certain managers of the international team – see George Burley – while adopting a "king is dead, long live the king" approach to others. Strachan falls into the latter category and is, indeed, due respect on account of his achievements at Celtic.
Still, despite Strachan continually referring to a lack of "concentration" causing Scotland's 3-2 friendly defeat to England at Wembley, the reality appeared closer to players simply not knowing who to mark at set-plays. It is now legitimate to press Strachan on his attitude towards Rhodes, a player who routinely displays one regular commodity which Scotland so dismally lack.
The matter is especially pertinent given the proven scoring ability at club level of not only Rhodes but Leigh Griffiths. The latter, who excelled last season at Hibernian and has started this season with similarly impressive touch at Wolves, was so isolated during Scotland's loss to Belgium on Friday that it was impossible not to feel sympathy. The Belgium goalkeeper, it should be noted, did not have a single save to make during Scotland's latest bleak Hampden encounter.
Rhodes marked his first full Scotland start in August 2012 with a terrific performance and equally impressive goal against Australia. Since then, he has been relegated to a bit-part role despite taking his remarkable scoring touch from Huddersfield Town to Blackburn.
In 110 league starts for Huddersfield he rattled in 73 goals. In Lancashire he has claimed 31 league goals from 47 starts. Whatever the supposed shortcomings of Rhodes, those are pretty eye-catching figures. They aren't enough, though, to boost his international status. If events over the weekend have also wounded his confidence of making a proper impact in the Scotland team, the nation would have needlessly lost a valuable asset.
