Vow to fight for Scotland jersey after Naismith’s elevation
were maybe taken a bit out of context. He didn’t mean Steven Naismith was going to be the number one striker and that was it, case closed. He meant that, from his performances, and the way he trained, that he was in pole position to hang on to the jersey. And quite rightly so, I would have given him the other goal as well and made it two goals.
“But we want Leigh Griffiths and guys like Oli Mcburnie coming back in to be disappointed and take up the challenge, because there’s places there for everyone. We don’t have a settled squad. It was a fantastic start to the Nations League but we want the best players playing.
“It is a challenge for Leigh Griffiths. He has a similar challenge at club level and he’ll have to fight the battle to get in the team both at Celtic and for Scotland. But that’s what we want.
“If he’s unhappy, great. If he comes with that attitude that hewantstoshowheshouldbe in the team, even better.”
Naismith shows no signs of letting up though, netting his ninth goal of the season on Saturday against Motherwell as Hearts moved five points clear in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
“He’s sharp,” Mcfadden said. “Last season when he came into Hearts he looked as if he was lacking fitness and sharpness. Because he has had a couple of serious injuries, you were maybe thinking that was Naisy on the slide. But he’s had a fantastic pre-season.
“He had problems with his heel towards the end of last season and he seems to have sorted them out. He has a programme that he sticks to.
“He was a breath of fresh air coming into the Scotland training, as was shown by his performances as well, and that’s why he was picked.”