Scotland: Stoke City's Jacob Brown backed to follow Lyndon Dykes progress
- Published
Jacob Brown has scored four times for Stoke City this season
Stoke City manager Michael O'Neill has backed Jacob Brown to match Lyndon Dykes' journey from obscurity to Scotland regular.
The 23-year-old forward has been called up for the first time by national head coach Steven Clarke.
Yet Brown was released as a youth by Sheffield Wednesday.
"You only have to look at the progression of Lyndon, coming from Livingston to QPR and obviously into the international team," O'Neill said.
"Jacob's journey is not that dissimilar. He fought his way back to get a professional career at Barnsley and, similar to Lyndon, has been transferred to a bigger club."
Halifax-born Brown, who qualifies for Clarke's squad through his Scottish mother, switched to Championship rivals Stoke for an undisclosed fee in September 2020 and has scored four goals in 19 appearances this season.
"What he does bring to the team is that he's an incredibly unselfish player," O'Neill told BBC Scotland's The Nine. "He works very hard, he presses the opposition and runs in behind.
"He's got good physical attributes. He's strong, he's got decent pace and he's improving all the time."
O'Neill pointed out that Brown "does well in the 3-5-2 system that we play" and that Clarke adopts a similar formation.
"I think he's ready for it," he said. "Regardless of whether he plays or not, I think he'll make an impression on Steve and his staff."
A win in Moldova on 12 November will secure a World Cup play-off place for Clarke's side.
Asked if he regretted rejecting the Scotland job in 2018, Northern Irishman O'Neill, whose family still live in Edinburgh, added: "You always look back at opportunities and that is one that I could have taken, but at the time I thought it was better to stay with Northern Ireland.
"It was a little bit unsettled behind the scenes at the SFA at the time as well, which isn't always easy as a manager coming in. The Scotland team is in a better position than back then - they are getting better and there are encouraging signs."