Naismith desperate to get his career back on track

Steven Naismith has set his sights on returning to regular first-team football and winning back his Scotland place.

The Norwich forward has been back training for three weeks after suffering an ankle ligament injury, but admits he might have to look into leaving Carrow Road to get back playing.

He made only one appearance during Scotland’s World Cup qualifying campaign but he wants to extend his international career beyond 45 caps.

“Towards the end of that campaign I found it tough,” said Naismith, who was sponsoring a Christmas lunch for homeless people in Glasgow with charity Loaves and Fishes.

“The manager had a great chat with me and said there was no point me travelling, ‘you’ve not been playing at your club’.

“I understand it was the right thing not to take me but I found it slightly embarrassing.

“As a youngster you feel embarrassed when you are getting left out but when you are an older player I found it quite hard to take.

“I definitely want to get back playing so I can compete to be back in the Scotland squad.

“It’s one of the proudest things I have done in my career, play for Scotland, and I want to continue doing that as long as I can.”

The 31-year-old made three appearances for Norwich in August before injury struck.

“Being out for a period of time has made me realise the main thing is playing as many games as you can,” he said.

Naismith was linked with a return to Ibrox in the summer and he admits he is keen to play football in his native country again at some stage.

“I do want to come back and play in Scotland and the older I’ve got, the more interest I have in terms of coaching and tactics, and what you should be doing as a player in games,” he said.

“If I can do that for some of the young guys coming through in Scotland, then that’s something I want to give back in that respect.

“But whether that’s in the short term or long term, we need to wait and see.”

Naismith hopes to get back into the Scotland squad.