Alex McLeish on Steven Naismith: USA move won’t harm Hearts striker’s Scotland chances

Steven Naismith is set to win his 50th cap for Scotland

The on-loan Hearts striker is considering quitting British football to join a Major League Soccer club when his contract with Norwich City expires in a few months’ time.

Hearts are one of a number of clubs desperate to sign him on a permanent deal. Naismith has been warned by Tynecastle manager Craig Levein to think twice about moving to the States so soon after re-establishing himself in the Scotland side.

Levein admits this is part of a strategy to persuade Naismith to stay with Hearts, where he has scored 14 goals already this season. McLeish can understand what the Tynecastle manager is hoping to achieve with such tactics but admits Scotland simply don’t have the luxury of being able to exclude in-form strikers. Johnny Russell has re-claimed his Scotland squad place despite now playing for Sporting Kansas City.

Che Adams has knocked back an invitation to commit to Scotland

“I know what big Craig is saying, where he is coming from, with his Hearts-tinted glasses on,” said McLeish. “He has to say that to try to persuade Steven to stay but we are not exactly blessed with centre forwards.

“Leigh Griffiths is still making his recovery, (Birmingham City’s) Che Adams is not quite ready so we have still got places to fill in a squad in terms of strikers.”

McLeish revealed Birmingham City striker Che Adams has knocked back an invitation to commit to Scotland because he wants to keep his options open. With Griffiths currently on a break from football for health reasons, McLeish has limited options up front apart from Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher and Swansea’s Oli McBurnie. On-loan Celtic striker Oli Burke could make a return to the full international arena when McLeish names his squad for the forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and San Marino next month.

Naismith has scored twice for Scotland since making his first international appearance for more than a year against Belgium last September, and will win his 50th cap if he plays in Kazakhstan, as seems very likely barring injury.

McLeish caused controversy when claiming Naismith was his No. 1 striker after he came in to the squad and scored against Albania in the 2-0 win in September. Griffiths was among those voicing their dismay and said it was “a kick in the teeth” to be relegated to the sidelines.

McLeish said he would continue to monitor Adams’ progress and would welcome him into the fold if he decides to change his stance.

The manager has refused to shut the door on the 22 year-old, who has scored 19 goals, including eight in his past eight appearances, for Championship side Birmingham this season. He is reportedly the subject of a £20m transfer bid from Tottenham Hotspur. The Leicester-born player qualifies for Scotland through a grandparent and has previously rejected an offer to play for Antigua and Barbuda, from where his father hails.

Adams has also decided against playing for Scotland at Under-21 level, having been on the Scottish Football Association’s radar for some considerable time.

“I would rather not cut my nose off to spite my face,” said McLeish. “I would rather be calm on it and assess the situation as it goes on. You slam the door shut and suddenly you have no resources left. We will keep the door open. (England manager) Gareth Southgate can probably afford to discard them easier than I could.”

Adams has played for England at Under-20 level.

“I spoke to his agent,” McLeish added. “He said Che didn’t feel he was quite ready to come and play for Scotland quite yet. He just wanted to concentrate on club football at the moment. I personally think we could enhance his career if he comes and pledges his career to Scotland. At the moment though, it’s a no.

“He has been in the system for a long while. The 21s tried to get him, maybe even longer – the 18s or 19s. At that time he maybe thought he would get called up for England or something and he knocked them [Scottish offers] back.”