Scotland's Steven Naismith says Gibraltar hat-trick will boost Steven Fletcher
Tuesday 31 March 2015 11:27, UK
Steven Naismith is confident Steven Fletcher's hat-trick against Gibraltar will provide him with a huge lift.
Fletcher had only scored once in 19 matches for Scotland before cashing in with a treble in Sunday’s European Qualifier, which Gordon Strachan's team won 6-1.
In doing so, the Sunderland striker also became the first Scottish international to score a hat-trick since Colin Stein struck four times against Cyprus in 1969.
His team-mate Naismith was also on target but does not feel the international goal drought had a big impact on Fletcher, and said: "I don't think he has suffered that much. The way we play, he brings so much to the team that it's not all about goals.
"But, on the other hand, all the forward players in the squad have said we should probably have more goals to our name in international football, and it's good to see all three of us on the scoresheet going forward.
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"It will give him a lot of confidence because any player who scores goals does get a bit more confident from it."
Although they sustained another convincing defeat at Hampden, Gibraltar did atleast achieve an international football first when Lee Casciaro scored their maiden competitive goal to make it 1-1 after 19 minutes.
Barry Bannan was on the bench when Gibraltar stunned the Tartan Army but he felt his team-mates responded in the right manner.
Bannan said: "They frightened us a bit at the start, it was a bit of a culture shock for the boys. We thought we would go out and play well and score goals. They came out and had a few chances.
"With scoring you thought, 'Brilliant, we have got the early goal'. But they came back really well and it shocked us and woke us up a bit. I think it shocked everyone in the ground but we got the goal back quickly.
"The main thing going into the game was having the right attitude and we have come out the right end comprehensively with a win. We got three points, we have scored, Fletch has got a hat-trick for his confidence.
"Germany beat them 4-0 and we beat them 6-1 so it was a good game for us."
