Naismith: Big Eck gave me my Scotland

STEVEN NAISMITH will always be grateful to Alex McLeish for making his Scotland dream come true.

Now the Hearts loanee is determined to prove himself to the returning national boss all over again.

The 31-year-old made his bow in dark blue during McLeish’s first reign in the dugout, replacing Kris Boyd in a 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands in June 2007.

The versatile forward has gone on to win 45 caps, finding the net seven times, and is as hungry as ever to play for Scotland again.

On loan from Norwich until the end of the season, Naismith bagged his first goal for the Jambos in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock.

He said: “Alex was the manager who gave me my debut for Scotland which was a fantastic experience.

“He is someone whom I worked with and did really well with.

“However, I know he has a load of players to pick from and he is fortunate because it’s a great job for any manager to walk into.

“We are not far away from making a tournament and he might have the extra ingredient to get us there.

“His record with Scotland was great and if he can get back to that then it will be terrific. For me I just need to work hard and if I’m doing well I’ll be in with a chance of getting picked. It’s as simple as that.

“I’m not naive enough to think, ‘I will make the next squad, it will be easy’.

“It’s not easy, you need to prove your worth and earn it and that’s what I want to