Gold Coast-born Dykes has spent the past three years with Queen of the South. The striker has become a regular with the Doonhamers, racking up 20 goals and 30 assists from 109 appearances since August 2016.
But with his contract at Queen of the South expiring next year, and interest from Scottish Premiership clubs growing, the 23-year-old is keen to secure a move to a bigger club. Dykes has shown his versatility at the Dumfries-based outfit playing as a left winger, a central striker and also as a number 10.
“I feel like I’ve developed,” he told The World Game.
“When I first came here I was expecting to not really play much, be a youngster, put my head down, be on the bench and just work hard. And then the team was struggling for wingers.
“In a pre-season game I got thrown on the wing and I played really well. The manager at the time liked me and then I played the whole season at left wing, even though it was new to me.
“And from there I just took my chance and the last two seasons have been great for me. I’ve moved back into a central role. Kind of playing as a number 10, attacking midfielder, and I think last season I got second in the league for assists.
“I’ve improved my game with the managers I’ve had, and I think I can do much better as well.”
Heart of Midlothian and St Johnstone have both linked to Dykes in the past. Hearts currently have a trio of Aussies on their books in Oli Bozanic, Ben Garucio and Ryan Edwards.
“It’s been great at Queen at the South but I obviously want to progress in my career and play as high as I can,” Dykes admits.
“I’ve had some interest from a few clubs in the Scottish Premiership so I’ve just got to wait and see what’s going to happen with that. Hopefully at the end of the season I do get a move to a higher club and a better league, but I’ve just got to wait and see.
“I’m at the end of my contract at the end of this season. I just have to keep my head down and if I keep playing well hopefully I can end up in a better place.”
Dykes grew up in Canberra as a talented fullback playing rugby league, but a move back north to the Gold Coast with family proved the catalyst for taking up football.
The forward played his youth football for Mudgeeraba Soccer Club before stints in the Queensland NPL with Redlands United and then locally with Surfers Paradise Apollo.
“I played fullback, there was interest from the Canberra Raiders but once I moved to the Gold Coast I started playing football and never stopped really,” Dykes explained.
“When I moved back to the Gold Coast I had to decide. My uncle, he lives on the Gold Coast, he used to play for Orlando Pirates in South Africa and he kind of persuaded me to pick football and it stuck from there.”
A tour of England with the Australian Schoolboys ended with a visit to Dumfries and a link with Queen of the South, which later grew.
“My parents are from Dumfries so I went to see family after the tour,” he said.
“I just kind of got into Queen of the South Under-20s, I was training really to just bide time. I went back to Australia but I always kept it touch and then I came back to play for the Under-20s.
“I had a season with the Under-20s, had a good season, scored a few goals and then I went back to Australia for a year. I was in touch with the club again and they wanted me to come back with the first-team, so I did and I’ve been here ever since.”
Dykes admits he did have talks about joining Brisbane Roar’s National Youth League side, but nothing came from it.
“I went and trained with youth team at Roar for a few weeks,” he said.
“They were talking about signing me but apparently I was too old for the youth team, I’m not sure. I never got a proper chance to go into the A-League, which is why I came over here.”
The attacker has not looked back during his time in Scotland and has thrived under the coaching of former Everton defender Gary Naysmith. This season he has bagged seven goals and 12 assists from 25 matches.
There are now 17 Australians plying their trade across the Scottish football pyramid, and Dykes believes the country is an excellent place for Antipodean players to develop.
“I think the league over here is very underestimated how good it actually is,” he said.
“I think it’s a lot harder than people think it is in Australia. It is good for players to come over here… It is great for all the boys. Tom Rogic at Celtic is an inspiration for me.
“Naysmith’s been in the higher leagues with Everton. You can tell with some of the things he’s done that he’s played at a different level. He’s taught me different roles. Gary’s been really good to me and is a great coach.”
Queen of South sit in fourth place on the Scottish Championship ladder, just inside the promotion playoff places. Dykes said the club is fully focused on making the playoffs.
“We are one of the smaller clubs in the league but with the team we have, and the quality we have... the Championship is so hard in general,” he said.
“Teams come down from the Premiership and they find it so hard to get back up because it’s such a tough league, everyone can beat everyone. We’re looking for that fourth place for the playoffs and then see what happens there. I think we can do it.”
The versatile forward also harbours ambitions to one day become a Socceroo. Eligible to represent both Scotland and Australia through his heritage, Dykes only has eyes for the green and gold.
“I’d love to play for Australia,” he said.
“I do have dual nationality so I could play for Scotland as well, but I’ve always wanted to play for Australia. Hopefully the higher I get and people come watching, you never know. Hopefully I get a call up one day.”
