JORDAN Rhodes is ‘firing on all cylinders’ and ready to prove he can be the main man for Scotland as well as Blackburn Rovers.

That is the verdict of Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee ahead of their international friendly with Northern Ireland at Hampden Park tonight (7.45pm).

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If Rhodes gets the nod from Gordon Strachan it will be the first time he has featured for the Tartan Army since their 2-0 defeat to Belgium in September 2013.

After that match Scotland boss Strachan questioned whether Rovers’ joint leading marksman suited his lone-striker system.

But Strachan’s right-hand man believes Rhodes, who has scored seven goals in his 11 appearances, has improved his all-round game enough to lead the line on the international stage.

McGhee said: “We feel he now looks much more able to play the way we play.

“I watched Jordan a couple of weeks ago at Watford and I said to Gordon afterwards that it was the most assured I’d seen him in terms of his hold-up play and lay-offs. He had really improved in that department.

“I then watched him last week at Charlton and he scored a couple of goals. He looked so clinical and clean with his finishing in that game and I felt it would be too difficult to ignore him this time around.

“If you look back at the season then Jordan hasn’t always played in the Blackburn team. There were occasions when you looked at that and said we were probably right with what we were seeing but at the moment he’s firing on all cylinders.

“The flaws are slowly but surely being ironed out and he has improved.

“We require certain strengths from players in certain positions. Unless they can deliver that, they cannot be in the team. Jordan’s mission is to prove to us that he can do the things that we require.”

Rhodes could go head-to-head with club colleague Corry Evans tonight.

The midfielder missed Rovers’ 1-0 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday with a groin strain.

But he has recovered to join up with his Northern Ireland team-mates.