King Kenny backs Charlie Adam to get Scotland to the Euros

Kenny Dalglish has tipped Charlie Adam as the man to get Scotland to the European Championship Finals.

The country’s record cap holder paid Blackpool £6.75 million for the midfielder three years ago while manager of Liverpool.

And Dalglish believes his recent displays for Stoke City prove he is at the peak of his career and in the perfect position to help Gordon Strachan achieve his qualification dream.

“It is great to see Charlie back playing well,” he says. “He is a guy with real end product to his game, which he has certainly been showing recently.

“He scored a great goal against Liverpool a few weeks back, rattled one in against Manchester United and got another chalked off by the dubious goals panel. And then there have been the ones he has made.

“That is good for Gordon because if somebody has got abilities and a contribution to make, then you always try your best to fit them in. In the end, it is down to players themselves.

“They know what they need to do to make sure they play and that is what Charlie is doing.

“Gordon will like that, but now Charlie has to keep it going until the qualification games come round. Let’s just hope he hasn’t hit his peak too soon!”

Critics might argue that has already happened. When the 28-year-old left Liverpool for Stoke in 2012, the fee he commanded was almost 33% less than the one that brought him to Anfield.

And at international level, his time under Strachan’s predecessor Craig Levein had its negative moments, with his defensive slackness in the loss to Wales at Cardiff drawing heavy criticism. Dalglish, though, begs to differ.

“I don’t know how you gauge these things,” he says. “Are you going to gauge Charlie at Liverpool just by what goals he made, and goals he scored?

“During his time at Blackpool, they got relegated. Now he’s at Stoke, and they are struggling down the bottom. When he was at Liverpool, we won the Carling Cup so I wouldn’t undermine what he did at Anfield too readily.

“And as for his defensive side of the game, well, I never looked at him as that type of player. Managers are different. There are a lot of things you might not look at that somebody else will see.

“Listen, in the end it will depend how Gordon wants to play him. But Charlie can play football and that is the most important thing.

“When that is the case, you find a role for the player and work out what is best for him. The people who take the decision to try to play football are the admirable ones

“That tells you something about the person as well. When he comes to you, you know he wants to play football, and the same applies for Scotland. When that is the case, you find a role for the player and work out what is best for him.”