Steven Naismith could be denied role in Euro play-off

Late start to Championship season may count against Hearts striker

Steven Naismith has scored three goals in his last six Scotland outings. Picutre: Bill Murray / SNS

The seemingly arbitrary 17 October start date for the new Championship campaign may have implications for Steve Clarke, now that Scotland’s autumn schedule is a bit clearer.

And what a schedule it is. Scotland are due to play seven times in just over ten weeks. Another game will be added to the mix if they manage to negotiate the Euro 2020 semi-final play-off against Israel at Hampden on 8 October.

This is nine days before the recently agreed start date for the Championship campaign. It means Hearts’ Steven Naismith could potentially start his own new season with one of Scotland’s most important games in years and having just turned 34.

Of course, his veteran status and the fact he will not have played a competitive fixture for seven months might mean he is overlooked by Clarke.

In addition, it is not certain Naismith will still be at Hearts by then. If he is, Hearts may not even be in the Championship. A court in Edinburgh will have a say in the latter matter.

But it is certainly worth flagging up since Naismith, after prodigious goalscorer John ‘Denis Law’ McGinn, is Scotland’s No 1 striker on ‘current’ form with three goals in his last six outings.

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