Gaffer taking us to next level

Jun 1 2008 By Gordon Waddell

GARY NAYSMITH last night piled praise on boss George Burley for adding style to Scotland's strength and spirit.

Walter Smith and Alex McLeish repaired the nation's battered reputation with teams who dug deep and were tough to beat.

But Burley is now trying to find another level and full-back Naysmith, 29, insists the players are ready to head there with him.

The Sheffield United star said: "The gaffer instills in us to keep the ball. He loves it on the deck.

"He wants you to be comfortable on the ball and make the forward pass when the time is right. If it's not then keep the ball until it is right. We've seen signs of that in the last couple of games.

"Hopefully we'll get a full squad back so the manager can look at the team he wants.We can do well if we can put that way of playing with our strengths - the fighting spirit and stamina.

"I played against his Ipswich team for Everton. I remember the philosophy was if the opposition score two we'll score three.

"Obviously you have to be tighter at international level but it's still the same because he loves us to get forward and score goals."

Naysmith - who won his 40th cap in Prague on Friday - has been involved with Scotland since 2000 but never made it to a major finals.

And although he's hopeful that could change he has warned the Tartan Army the World Cup campaign won't be plain sailing.

Gary said: "The whole nation sees real hope now and we need to maintain that.

"But the players think this group will be more difficult than a lot of the fans do. There are difficult away games.

"We've got a realistic chance to qualify, though, and that's all you ask for. It's up to us. We've got one friendly to get everything right and kick off with away games to Macedonia and Iceland.

"Four or six points would be a hell of a start because we know what we can do at Hampden."

Naysmith's season ended four weeks ago and he had to keep in good shape for Friday night's slog.

He said: "It was difficult keeping myself motivated to train myself in that 25-day lay-off. And it's difficult to get to the level of the game.

"But I was delighted to play 90 minutes - I didn't think I'd last.

"At 70 minutes I got a bit tired and that happened to a lot of the boys with the number of games they've played this season.

"By that time the team had given everything. It was maybe 20 minutes too far for a lot of us."