Former Scottish footballers Steven Naismith, Nikica Jelavic and James McCarthy are set to wear rainbow laces in their boots this weekend to show their support for fellow players who are gay.

The Everton players, once of Rangers and Hamilton,  along with their captain Phil Jagielka, will join team-mates in wearing the laces, created by campaign group Stonewall, during their weekend clash with West Ham at Upton Park.

HeraldScotland can also reveal that one team in Scotland has agreed to take part in the campaign. Players from Scottish League One's Stenhousemuir will wear the laces during their away game with Abroath on Saturday.

Joey Barton, the controversial English player, has also pledged his support.

The laces are being worn as part of the Right Behind Gay Footballers campaign, launched by Stonewall and Paddy Power.

Colin Macfarlane, director of Stonewall Scotland, said: "The English Premier League have backed the campaign but in terms of Scottish clubs, the SPFL and the SFA, they have been pretty quiet which is quite disappointing. Only Stenhousemuir have shown support.

"We are not demanding that anyone does anything, this is just a cheeky campaign, but I think it is quite telling that there has not been much uptake in Scotland.

"It's time for football clubs and players to step up and make a visible stand against homophobia in our national game. That's why we're working with Paddy Power on this fun and simple campaign. By wearing rainbow laces players will send a message of support to gay players and can begin to drag football in to the 21st century."

The rainbow laces have been sent to all professional clubs in England, Scotland and Wales. Stonewall hopes that footballers will wear them for fixtures on the weekend of September 21 and 22, sending out a strong message that a player's sexuality is not important.

Everton and England defender Phil Jagielka said: "For me and the rest of the lads at Everton a player's sexuality is not important, but their ability on the pitch is.

"We don't tolerate discrimination of any kind at Everton and the whole Club works hard to get that message out to the fans."

The campaign has also been backed by football supporters and HeraldScotland readers, who posted reaction to an online column written by Graham Spiers.

Macfarlane added: "We have been pretty overwhelmed by the positive reaction the campaign's received on social media. For us, the campaign allows us to get in touch with people that would never normally have been talking about homophobia in sport. That way it has been a big success.

"There is still a problem with homophobia in sport, especially football, but opinions are changing and I do think what this campaign shows is that supporters want gay fans to feel safe when they go to football matches. This campaign is not about us saying that we must have an out footballer right now, it's about creating a comfortable environment for them to do so.

"Supporters do want players to feel safe and, in terms of the campaign, it has been good for us and the backing from the supporters has been fantastic."

Read the views of Graham Spiers and our readers on the Stonewall campaign here