Steven Naismith, the Scotland assistant coach, has claimed Lawrence Shankland, who completed his move from Hearts to Rangers last night, has been the best player in the country for the past few years and can be a dangerous “weapon” at the World Cup finals.
Naismith worked closely with Shankland during his time as manager at Tynecastle and was unsurprised when he learned the Ibrox club were set to sign the prolific 30-year-old striker, who led his side to within minutes of the Scottish title this season, earlier on this week.
The former Ibrox forward is confident the 18-times capped player will be a success in Govan in the seasons to come - but he is fully focused on the warm-up friendly against Curacao at Hampden on Saturday and ensuring the national team give the Tartan Army a victory to cheer.
Naismith, though, admitted the former Queen’s Park, Aberdeen, Ayr United and Dundee United player, who scored in the 4-2 win over Denmark back in November that clinched qualification, is firmly in contention for a start in the Group C matches against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in the United States next month.
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“If you're not up for it going in to a World Cup then you're probably not right for the squad,” he said. “I think that every player coming in here is definitely coming in with hope that they'll play a World Cup for sure.
“At the end of my time at Hearts, Lawrence was finding it tough because probably a lot was going on. But, as you've seen, he's rebounded and become the best player in Scotland for me. He’s a really good weapon to have going into a World Cup.
“I think mentally, he's definitely had a bit of a blow to the end of the season, but going into a World Cup it's a brilliant thing to have to kind of turn your mindset. That's probably an area that people won't give him credit for - his leadership skills are as good as I've seen I think.
“When there's tough moments he stands up and he performs. If there's tough moments and you need to face a crowd or whatever, he'll put somebody to the side and say, ‘No I’ll deal with this’. Because of his leadership skills, he knows the pressure that is put on players
“But that's something he's developed. You must credit the likes of Robbie Neilson for giving him the captaincy and the opportunity to perform that way. He's grown and I think he's as good as he's ever been in every aspect of his game.”
Naismith continued, “For me Lawrence over the last three, four years has been arguably the best player in Scotland overall for every area - leadership, goal scoring, importance to a team, his build-up play.
“At 30, he's probably slightly late in terms of getting any moves or playing as high as he can, but I'm sure he'll drive as far as he can to get to play at the highest level. That's similar to his international career.
“He's probably taken a wee bit of time to get to that comfortable zone and he's at that now. I fully believe he's at what's probably the best moment he can be going into a World Cup.
“I first came across him when I was a player and he was a finisher. He had no real game knowledge or intelligence or work rate. There has been a massive change. His game intelligence and his finesse is top level. He's not only done it when he's been in a team that's been winning, he's done it in big, big moments.
“I remember when he started against the Netherlands a couple of years ago. He had a chance to shoot and he passed to big Scott McTominay. I was at Hearts at the time and I texted him and said, ‘At Hearts you shoot there’. He probably wasn't comfortable in this environment. Now he's at the point where he thinks, ‘No I'll do what I need to do to contribute for the team’.”
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Scotland manager Steve Clarke has called up five strikers for the World Cup - Che Adams of Torino, Lyndon Dykes of Charlton, George Hirst of Ipswich and Ross Stewart of Southampton are the others – and there is intense competition for places up front.
Adams and Dykes have been preferred for big games in the past. But Hirst and Shankland have also been involved regularly. Stewart, meanwhile, has been in inspired form in the English Championship this term. Naismith feels the quintet give Clarke options.
“I think every striker coming into this squad will have a bit of belief that they'll play or should start for Scotland,” he said. “The players that have been selected all probably have some things that are slightly different and will be needed without a doubt.
“I think the good thing about this squad is we can play a few formations. We've shown that we're good at it and sometimes it can be seen as brave playing two strikers. Whether that's with a back five or a back four in a 4-4-2, we've done it well.
“The gaffer's get an idea of how he wants to do it in each game, but the next two weeks are going to decide that and that's genuinely there for the players to go and say, ‘I'm determined to be the one that starts for Scotland’.”
Naismith has no concerns about Shankland’s transfer to Rangers distracting him ahead of the warm-up friendlies against Curacao this weekend or Bolivia in Miami on Saturday week.
“At the end of every season there's always going to be chat,” he said. Maybe this happens, maybe this doesn't happen, whatever. I think that players are getting used to just dealing with it.
“Lawrence is somebody who I've worked with closely and who I think is at the best he's ever been at now. In the last probably two or three years his progression's been better than probably most in the squad.
“He's had challenges and moments where it's not been good, but he's rebounded, come back and had another fantastic season. I think he will be going into a World Cup in a brilliant frame of mind, to actually not just be here but be a big player for us in this World Cup.”
