With less than three months to go till the finals of the European Championship Leigh Griffiths has been left out of the Scotland squad to face Austria, the Faroe Isles and Israel.
When Oli McBurnie and Lyndon Dykes are selected ahead of you it really is time to take stock.
Griffiths finished 2020 on something of a high with a goal in the Scottish Cup Final against Hearts followed by one in the penalty shoot-out as he re-established his partnership with Odsonne Edouard.
Just one goal- at home to Hamilton- and no starting place since January 30 has been his story of 2021 with time running out to prove that he is worth a place in the Scotland squad.
Discussing his decision, Steve Clarke told The Sun:
I think it’s well documented that he’s not getting much game time for Celtic. I’ve spoken to all the boys that were in the last squad and not in this squad.
We’ve had good private conversations and they know what to expect and they know what to do to try and get back into this squad, and Leigh is one of those players.
Che Adams and Kevin Nisbet have been included in the squad for the first time as Clarke attempts to find a striker or two with a goalscoring touch.
Griffiths came off the bench to score in the penalty shoot-out win over Serbia in November but unless things pick up rapidly it looks like he will miss out on Scotland’s first tournament appearance in 23 years.