NAISMITH WAS DRIVEN BY HIS DESIRE TO REACH 50 CAPS FOR SCOTLAND
Target of reaching a half-century of caps motivated me to beat injury woes
I understand how good a chance it is to get to a major tournament
ALONG-TERM injury can be challenging at the best of times but, at the age of 33, Steven Naismith thought his Scotland days were over when he missed the majority of last season with a knee problem.
A year on and the fit-again Hearts striker is poised to win his 50th Scotland cap if he features in either of their two upcoming games — away in Cyprus on Saturday and a Hampden meeting with Kazakhstan next Tuesday.
Naismith, who scored in Hearts’ 5-2 rout of St Mirren at the weekend, says the target of getting his 50th cap motivated him to recover both physically and mentally from his injury woes.
‘It’s been a frustrating year,’ he said. ‘The optimism I had at the end of the Nations League going into this qualifying campaign, you’re hoping for a positive start. But then I picked up the injury.
‘Getting the 50th cap is something that has constantly motivated me through it all. But in the bigger picture, we have to look and think that we won’t get a better opportunity to get to a major tournament.
‘As I got into my 30s and was not in the Scotland team very much, it was tough. A new manager (Steve Clarke) came in and changed the squad to go with a lot of younger boys, so at that point I did think: “It’s not going to happen for me”.
‘Now we sit here on 49 caps, hopefully I’ll get the 50th.’
Asked how reaching the half-century would rank alongside his other career achievements — three Scottish Premiership titles with Rangers and multiple Premier League appearances for Everton and Norwich — Naismith said: ‘It would be right up there.
‘But I thought getting one cap for Scotland was big. I went to see Scotland as a kid, watching them regularly in qualifiers and things, I never gave it a thought I could actually play for Scotland.
‘As your career progresses, the next time you look you have 25 caps, and so on, it goes from there.’ The upcoming European qualifying games are effectively dead-rubbers. Qualification from the group has long gone and all focus now is on the Nations League play-offs in March.
Clarke has had a challenging start to life in the Scotland job, facing Belgium and Russia twice each, but these forthcoming games represent a better opportunity for him to assess his squad.
And Naismith believes this is Scotland’s best chance of ending the misery and qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in nearly 20 years. Scotland were the only home nation not to make Euro 2016 and Naismith is determined not to allow such embarrassment again.
‘I understand how good an opportunity it is to get there,’ he said. ‘I need to relay that to the squad, as an older player. From now until March the fans, squad and manager need to be pushing in the same direction.
‘When I was a kid, my earliest memories were Euro ’96 and France ’98. At that time, it was pretty frequent we were making these tournaments. Now they are distant memories that have faded away and everybody’s hopes disappeared with it.
‘But now we’re at a bit of a crossroads where we have a real opportunity to make it. It’s massive, not just for the players but everybody as a country. It’ll give the fans something to get back involved in and enjoy watching us.’
With Hampden a host venue for the Euro 2020 competition, it is vitally important Scotland somehow squeeze through.
The prospect of the national team playing in a major finals at the national stadium is mouth-watering, while the idea of missing out is too painful to contemplate.
When asked whether Clarke’s men playing at a major tournament against some of the world’s best could inspire the next generation, Naismith said: ‘100 per cent. As a kid, I know how I felt.
‘So, again, the younger generation can look at our squad where we have a lot of idols at club level like Robbo (Andy Robertson) and (John)
McGinn. But it would just nudge it up another level if we could make it to a tournament and play at Hampden. It would give the kids hope of what they can achieve.’
Naismith admitted he has a strong relationship with Clarke and has utmost faith that the ex-Kilmarnock boss can succeed.
‘I spoke to him (Clarke) at the start of the week,’ added Naismith. ‘On a couple of occasions he’s tried to sign me at club level, so we have a good understanding.
‘After the conversation, he was comfortable to put me into the squad. After that, I went on to do well at the weekend and score a goal, so hopefully that backs my case to be in the team.
‘He’s very detailed in what he wants and his standards are very high. He’s got an expectation day-to-day and that’s from around the hotel to on the training pitch and in matches. That’s something the boys have taken on board and understand. The manager is very thorough, so I’m sure he will have his ideas for these games plus the (play-off) games in March.’