STEVEN NAISMITH has had enough of the ruffled hair, patronising pats on the back and hearing he and his Scotland team-mates had given their plucky best in yet another dismal failure.

Perhaps in the dead of night some nightmare creeps into his thoughts; a recurring dream wherein on Friday night he is speaking to a bunch of journalists after a brave performance at Wembley, one full of skill and even a few goals, but there was just no luck in a narrow defeat to England.

That would be, to use Naismith’s own word, crap.

Read more: Steven Naismith: Blame the players not Gordon Strachan for the bad results

The Norwich City player has been there too many times before. Now 30 and seven caps short of the Hall of Fame, the former Rangers player is one of Gordon Strachan’s most experienced men, even if his place in the starting eleven is less assured these days.

With one or two exceptions, and even that might be stretching it, Scotland for years have not pulled off that big result which can change everything for the better. The wins over France, the draws with Germany and Italy, do seem a long time ago.

The last thing we as a football nation need is to chalk up another tale of woe. It would be nice if, for once, the Scotland team play well and then actually go onto win a match. Everyone else seems to manage it.

Read more: Steven Naismith: Blame the players not Gordon Strachan for the bad results

“I’ve been in so many games where it has been 'oh, unlucky'. It’s crap at the end of the day,” said Naismith. “Holland at home, we played great. Get beat 1-0. Against Spain, the world champions, we concede in the last minute and lose 3-2.

‘There have been so many games like that. Hopefully we are due one, like people say. We have been so close so many times, it is about time that we do change. Against Spain, okay, I scored a great goal against a great team. But we got beat. Over my time in the international team, it has been like that for too long.

‘We do have match-winners. You look at Robert Snodgrass. He comes back at the weekend there and is a match-winner. We maybe don’t have as many of those players as some, but we do have guys with quality who can do damage.

“I don’t think it’s about luck. There might be a small element of that but we can’t accept the hard luck story. It’s easy to say that because it has been and gone and it’s 'oh, we tried our best'. But we want to do better than that.

“Like at the Euros when you see everyone else going. We want to be there. Everybody is like that in the squad. No-one saunters along thinking they are happy to be here. There is a drive to be there (at major tournaments).”

It is said often enough that too much is asked of Scotland in an era when we don’t have the players, are a pot three or four country and everyone else seems to have improved. Naismith does not see it this way.

He is honest enough to admit that during his time with the national team, even the most basic goals have not been achieved, and he is right. Nobody is asking Scotland to win the World Cup, just to finish third in a qualifying group.

“I think it’s realistic that we should be at least making play-offs, especially in World Cups,” said Naismith. “With the change of format in the Euros, you look at the group you get. But we need to stop building up guys who have maybe done it for five minutes and let them progress.

“With the older boys, there probably should be a bit more pressure on them saying: 'We need to do better'. Because we should. That is where we are at.”

Asked whether it rankled being called nearly men, even if they the Scots haven't got particularly near at times, Naismith said: “It does, aye. The guys who are playing in England are coming up against these top quality players on a regular basis.

“In my time at Everton, we gave a fair few of them a run for their money and beat them comfortably with some good performances. So you can do it. You definitely can do it.

“There’s probably only been one team where I’ve thought it was something else and that was Spain when they were the world champions. For 90 minutes, you had to concentrate so hard.

“Against everyone else, I’ve felt we have gone into the games thinking we can get a result, that we can do it. That has got to be the belief to get us there.”

Naismith is a big game player. He has proven that all his career going back to Kilmarnock and under other circumstances would be an automatic pick given he has played against all the England players during his many years in the Premiership with Everton and Norwich, who are now back in the Championship.

He’s not played a lot of football this season, a move to Sunderland didn’t materialise in August, and so someone with over 100 appearances in English football’s top flight will have to contend with being the keenest of substitutes.

Read more: Steven Naismith: Blame the players not Gordon Strachan for the bad results

“It has been frustrating but I am realistic to understand my situation at my club from when the transfer window shut, and my opportunities have been limited,” said Naismith. “You can’t be turning up here and guys are doing it week in week out and asking, ‘why am I not playing in front of these guys?’

“You have to be realistic. The one thing I would stress is if I am called upon I will be ready to play. I have looked after myself and trained hard and if I get the chance to play I will clutch it with both hands. I have done that before in my career.

“In the last couple of meet ups I know I have been on a hiding to nothing in terms of getting a chance to play because of my situation. Whereas this game is slightly different because there could potentially be a few changes and I just need to hope I do enough so the manager says: ‘aye, he’ll do for me’.”

And a good news story would do for the whole of Scotland.