For James McFadden it was the red stripe and the rat’s tail. Lyndon Dykes once opted for all the colours of rainbow.
The former Queen of the South team-mates already have bravery in the barbers in common.
But Scotland’s latest striker doesn’t want to be remembered for his hairstyles. Like McFadden before him, Dykes has his sights set on claiming a place in the hearts of the Tartan Army by scoring goals – and plenty of them.
“Yeah, well that’s my aim,” said the QPR forward. “I want to be an international player and I want to have a great career for Scotland. I want to be up there with the best.
“I played with James McFadden at Queen of the South and I spoke to him a lot before I came here.
“That’s someone I look at and think: ‘I want to be like him’. He was great for Scotland.
“I obviously saw that (Oliver) McBurnie pulled out, but I’ll just keep my head down in training, and whatever the manager wants me to do, I’ll do my best to do it.
“I’m just going to work my hardest and hopefully everyone will see that. I’m only new to international football and only new to this whole experience.
“It would be an honour to lead the line – but I know I’ve got to work hard for that.
“I’m just going to put my head down and see what happens in the future.”
McFadden and Dykes didn’t share a Palmerston pitch too often but the hero of Paris could certainly be described as a career mentor.
“James came in with Gary Naysmith and he was a great lad,” said the former Livingston star, who was transferred to Loftus Road for a £2 million transfer fee a couple of weeks ago.
“I got on with him straight away and he gave me great advice.
“He taught me a lot of things on the pitch and off the pitch. I speak to him for advice in my career as well. I’ve rung him up loads of times and he’s always had good words to say to me and has always been there.
“He’s always been top class to me.
“I’ve seen a couple of his hairstyles, so I might need to pull something out!”
The accent is more likely to bring to mind Bondi Beach than Brigadoon but the Scottish credential of Dykes are made of girders. In the tug of war over which country he was going to represent in international football, the one of his bloodline had a stronger pull than the one of his birth.
“Scotland gave me a chance in my career, really,” said the 24-year-old. “Without this country, I wouldn’t be where I am in football. So that was a major thing in my head. From the get-go, I wanted to play for Scotland.
“Obviously I spoke with (Australia’s coaches) Graham Arnold and Rene Meulensteen – they were always great with me.
“But, in the end, speaking with Steve Clarke here, he knows what we spoke about before lockdown. He knows how I reached my decision.
“I’m just ready to get my head down, work hard and win games.
“A lot of people would have said that Australia was the easy route. But, with the squad that we have here in Scotland and the boys coming through as well, it’s only a matter of time before we get back to where we should be.
“My job is to do my best and push Scotland on further.
“I want to win games and get as high as I can. If the nation gets behind us, the sky is the limit. We should be getting the country back to where it was, qualifying for finals.
“I’m here to work hard. I’m here to learn. And I’m here to hopefully score some goals – and get Scotland to where they should be.”
Dykes added: “All my family is Scottish. I’ll be proud to put that strip on.
“I had a Scotland kit when I was young, even though my dad was never a major football person.
“My parents are Scottish and my son was born in Scotland. They’re all over the moon for me. The Scottish blood is in me. The country gave me my chance in my career. And I love being in Scotland, even though I’ve just moved to England. I’m still going to be travelling up here.
“I had a few people obviously saying I should play here or there, but in the end, it came down to my decision.
“I’ve always been strong about Scotland.”
A near-empty Hampden Park, with no friends or family to wave to before the national anthem, isn’t the Scotland debut Dykes would have visualised. It won’t diminish the achievement when he is capped on Friday night against Israel, though, or the pride in it.
“Obviously it’s unfortunate that the fans and the family won’t be there watching,” he said. “But they are all going to be supporting us and watching on TV.
“There’s nothing we can do about it with the coronavirus. It’s affected so many people all over the world.
“I’m sure they will be supporting at home.
‘I’ve never played at Hampden. It will be an honour to play there at such a great stadium. There will be no crowd but the boys know what we need to do, and I’m sure everyone will be back supporting us when they can.
“It will still be great to hopefully step out on that pitch.
“It feels good to be here and be part of the set-up, meeting all the boys and getting ready for the game. I can’t wait to get started.”
