NAISMITH: I WANTED OUT
STEVEN NAISMITH admitted he felt frustrated when Roberto Martinez rebuffed Norwich’s bid to sign him as he reflected on his best day at Everton.
Norwich made an £8million offer for the Scotland forward on deadline day, but Martinez refused to consider it — just as he rejected four requests from Chelsea for John Stones.
Naismith has not started in the Barclays Premier League this season but his eighthminute arrival for the injured Muhamed Besic changed the game and his perfect hat-trick — header, left foot, right foot — secured a thrilling win over the champions.
The 28-year- old said: ‘ When you are not playing every week it is hard to look past these opportunities ( to leave the club).
‘But it was out of my hands because the manager said he didn’t want me to leave.
‘That was nice in a way but when you’re not playing it is hard to take.
‘Things can change so quickly in football, though. Hopefully I’ve shown my worth to the team. At my age, you do wonder how long it is going to be before you are playing regularly again. I was still coming on in games with a good bit of time to play, so that gave me hope that I could still be here at Everton.
‘When the manager said it wasn’t going to happen, I knew then I had to work hard and be ready for a day like this against Chelsea. The manager said he saw me as a valuable part of the squad and wanted to keep me. Everyone has a role to play.’
Naismith scored a hat-trick on his Everton debut in a 2012 testimonial for Tony Hibbert, and of Saturday’s treble he said: ‘When the third goal went in there was a lot of relief but also a lot of great personal joy.’