SCOTLAND hard-man Lyndon Dykes claims England did not like it up ’em when they collided at Wembley on Friday night.
The Aussie-born striker made his intentions clear right from the off when he clattered Luke Shaw in the first minute of the cross-border clash.
And England’s spiky reaction to the physical approach left Dykes convinced he had rattled Gareth Southgate’s men.
He said: “It set the tone when I smashed into Shaw and I think that a few of the boys from the England team didn’t really want it.
“It was right from the kick-off and it was up to me to win the first challenge and I’ve taken him out as well, so it was a good start for us.
“It wasn’t deliberate but I caught him with my knee on his leg and I knew he didn’t like it.
“Shaw didn’t say anything but the referee tried to make me say sorry after I’d got him.
“The ref had actually pulled me in the warm-up before the game had even started and tried to warn me about my headers and stuff.
“But if the ball is there to be won I’m going to challenge for it and that’s what I did.”
Dykes had made his intentions clear the night before last week’s Wembley war when he shaved off all his hair to make himself even more intimidating.
But his attempts to get his Scotland team-mates to follow his lead fell on deaf ears.
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The 25-year-old QPR star said: “It was a big game for us and when the boys see me with the skinhead they know I mean business.
“I did it before the play-off game in Serbia because it was a daunting place to go and I wanted to get everyone in the right frame of mind.
“So the boys loved it when I did it again last week.
“They told me that when the bald comes out, that’s when Dykes is ready for a battle.
“I did mention the idea of all the players doing the same thing. Imagine the entire starting line-up coming out with their heads shaved down to zero – I think anyone would be scared of that.
“But a few of the boys have already got bad hairlines so they weren’t too keen. Unfortunately, there’s not much more I can do with my hair now.
“Maybe paint my head blue! I don’t mind. I’ll do anything to mix things up for a bit of fun.”
But Dykes will not be laughing tomorrow evening as Scotland look to end their goal drought and secure the victory they need against Croatia to qualify for the knockout stages.
And he is ready to put his body on the line all over again in what he is certain is going to be another physical fight.
“I know quite a lot of Croatian people in Australia and they are all big, tough guys who are always solid so I’m sure it will be a good battle.
“I also know a lot of Serbs and they have been in touch because they want to make sure we beat the Croats.
“It’s going to be a scrap but I’m not intimated at all. I grew up playing rugby league trying to smash all the big lads.
“I get stuck in whoever I’m up against and whatever happens they’re going to know they’ve been in a battle.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
