Lawrence Shankland earns Scotland squad recall for World Cup crunch as keeper in surprise recall

The striker has been in blistering form to help fire Hearts to the top of the Scottish Premiership

Lawrence Shankland has earned a Scotland squad recall for the World Cup qualifying double header against Greece and Denmark.

The striker - who has scored three in his last three - was a surprise omission from Steve Clarke’s pool last month after a blistering start to the season with Premiership pacesetters Hearts.

But Shankland replaces Hibs frontman Kieron Bowie for the two games that will determine if Scotland go directly to North America and Mexico next summer, or go into the play-offs next March.

Scotland will qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 if they draw in Greece and beat Denmark.

Scott Bain left Celtic for Falkirk in the summer and is back in the national team set-up after a six year absence in place of the injured No. 1 Angus Gunn.

Craig Gordon and Rangers' Liam Kelly are the two other goalkeeping options for Clarke, who has also included Ross McCrorie and Josh Doig as defensive options.

Clarke has named a larger 25-man squad.

Goalkeepers: Scott Bain (Falkirk), Craig Gordon (Hearts), Liam Kelly (Rangers)

Defenders: Josh Doig (Sassuolo), Grant Hanley (Hibernian), Jack Hendry (Al Etiffaq), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City), Scott McKenna (Dinamo Zagreb), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), John Souttar (Rangers), Kieran Tierney (Celtic)

Midfielders: Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Ben Gannon Doak (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich), Scott McTominay (Napoli), Lennon Miller (Udinese)

Forwards: Che Adams (Torino), Lyndon Dykes (Birmingham), George Hirst (Ipswich), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts).