NAISMITH EYES BIG-STAGE RETURN

Naismith - positive outlook.

Steven Naismith has backed Scotland to compete at the highest level again - insisting boss George Burley has plenty of quality within his ranks.

The Scots narrowly missed out on Euro 2008 when their dream of participating at a major finals for the first time in a decade was snuffed out by Italy in their final qualifier.

Naismith has spent much of the summer watching the tournament on television as he recovers from a serious knee injury, and the Rangers striker insists Scotland would not look out of place in such elite company.

"As a country we have some great youngsters coming through and we are pushing on," said the striker who won his first cap last year.

"We have quite a few players playing at the highest level in Scotland and England. That is obviously a positive for us.

"We only have to look at some of the other smaller countries and how well they have done at the Euros."

While Spain and Germany prepare to battle it out to be crowned kings of Europe in tomorrow's final, Scotland have already switched their focus to the World Cup qualifiers.

The campaign begins with games away from home against FYR Macedonia and Iceland which will represent Burley's first competitive outings since taking over from Alex McLeish in January.

However, Holland are likely to represent the toughest test for the Scots, who had the misfortune to be grouped with the might of France, Italy and Ukraine in their last qualifying campaign.

Naismith has been ruled out of action for up to a year but could be pushing for a return by the time Scotland travel to the Netherlands next March, providing an opportunity for him to add to the cap he earned against the Faroe Islands in June 2007.

The Dutch impressed in the European Championships with emphatic wins over France, Italy and Romania before crashing out at the hands of Russia.

"Holland were a team that everyone would have backed to win at the start of the tournament," said Naismith.

"They looked great and were knocked out by a good team and hopefully we can have a good performance against them as well."

Naismith admits a summer of football on television has helped prevent him from dwelling on the frustrating months that lie ahead, after sustaining knee ligament damage in the Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone in April.

He said: "I've watched a bit of the Euros and it has been good for keeping my mind off my injury.

"I'm working with Chris Burke and Ian Durrant, who has obviously had a bad knee injury as well, and they are guys who can keep you going.

"It's been five weeks since my operation and it has gone by quickly, it hasn't been a slog.

"It's a different challenge from what I've been used to in my career and hopefully it's one I'll battle back from."