Steven Naismith thought it was 'last-chance saloon' before Scotland goal against Albania
- Published
Steven Naismith is happy to be credited with one of Scotland's goals against Albania
Steven Naismith thought he was on his last chance to save his Scotland career before scoring in their 2-0 Nations League win over Albania.
The 32-year-old Hearts forward was a late call-up as an injury replacement after missing out on squads last season amid indifferent club displays.
"It was a bit of last-chance saloon," he told BBC Scotland.
"That's how I felt - that I had to make an impression or I wasn't going to get many more opportunities."
Naismith has been in better form this season during his second loan spell from Norwich City and has scored nine goals in 11 appearances for club and country.
He made an impression as a second-half substitute in Scotland's otherwise disappointing 4-0 friendly defeat by Belgium before head coach Alex McLeish chose him ahead of Celtic's Leigh Griffiths for the visit of Albania.
"I had a good conversation with the manager in the summer and I backed my ability that, if I could go away and make sure I had a good pre-season, I would fight my cause," Naismith told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound.
"He reassured me that, if I did that and did well, he would select me.
"I've had many setbacks in my career and I've always thought I would be good enough to get back.
"Hard work, determination and the thrill of winning is probably the three things that have driven me."
'No player is guaranteed anything'
Many have credited Naismith with Scotland's opener against Albania, but it has officially gone down as an own goal after his header deflected off Berat Djimsiti.
The forward is happy to have "just got one" and notch up his eighth goal in 47 Scotland appearances.
McLeish was quoted as saying that Naismith would now be his first-choice striker for the Nations League trip to face Israel on 11 October - if he remains fit and maintains his form with Hearts.
"I've seen the manager's comments and it's been taken out of context a bit," he said. "He's not going to guarantee any player anything.
"I've done well in the last international game, which makes me the latest in the manager's thoughts, but there's another month of football to go and a lot can happen."
'Griff by a mile is probably the best finisher'
Naismith says Leigh Griffiths is a better finisher than himself and Johnny Russell
Naismith says his experience of having to battle for his place against top players with Rangers and, especially, at Everton stood him in good stead when forcing himself back into McLeish's plans.
"Before that last meet-up there, I said in my head I need to go into training and do more and show him that I've got enough to play," he said.
"And I did. I worked so hard throughout the week and that got me my chance effectively."
Naismith was not too surprised to find himself starting against Albania despite having been overlooked for the initial squad.
"It's happened many a time," he said. "A lot of that is how the team is shaping up in training.
"You are working on things and you might just have that 10 minutes good in training where the manager thinks this is flowing and that plants a seed in his head."
Despite flourishing in the lone striker role for Scotland, Naismith still views himself as "more of a 10" in a supporting role.
"Me and Johnny Russell aren't out-and-out strikers," he said. "Griff by a mile is probably the best finisher, but we're intelligent enough to know that, if one of us goes to link up, one of us needs to get in the penalty box."