Steven Naismith says Scotland's failure to reach Euro 2016 still hurts
Wednesday 25 May 2016 16:58, UK
Steven Naismith says Scotland's role as Euro 2016 "warm-up act" has increased the pain of their failure to qualify for the tournament.
The Scots play Italy and France in friendly matches in the next 10 days to help prepare their opponents for the championships.
Both teams will use their encounter with Scotland to ready themselves for their march to Paris - but that has only reminded Naismith of what his side has missed out on by finishing fourth in qualifying group D.
"That is the worst part of it," said the Norwich forward. "It's good to meet up and test ourselves against two world-class countries - but we are the preparation and that is it.
"That is a massive disappointment but it stretches all the way back to the Georgia game.
"Everybody realises that this is the feeling you get when you don't qualify and we don't want to go through it again, especially when we are so close.
"When you have been in such a good position, it's not good to be the warm-up act."
Naismith's attempts to forget all about events taking place across the Channel have hardly been made any easier by the excited chatter buzzing around the Carrow Road dressing room.
Among his Canaries team-mates, Robbie Brady and Wes Hoolahan of Ireland and Sweden's Martin Olsson are likely to be heading to Euro 2016, as is Northern Ireland frontman Kyle Lafferty.
But Naismith insists that only makes him more eager to ensure he is able to join in the conversation when it turns to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
"The guys at Norwich have been talking about going to the Euros - we're not and that's the end of it," said the 29-year-old. "They have all got the buzz and are looking forward to it, because a lot of my team-mates haven't been to a tournament before.
"They're experiencing what we hoped we would be. But that just fires you up for the next campaign. When you look at our squad, the boys are all of similar ages now. When you are younger you always think, 'Ah, there's always next time'.
"Now it has hit home that it is now us coming down to the last few campaigns we could be involved in."
