Naismith wants Scotland destiny 'in our own hands'

World Cup qualifying: Scotland v Greece

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Thursday, 9 October Time: 19:45 BST

Coverage: Watch on BBC Scotland, listen on BBC Radio Scotland & Radio Nan Gaidheal, follow live text coverage on the BBC Sport website & app

Scotland want maximum points this month to ensure their World Cup qualifying fate "is in our own hands", says assistant coach Steven Naismith.

The Scots, who last reached a World Cup in 1998, host Greece (Thursday) and Belarus (Sunday), having taken four points from their opening two fixtures in Group C.

The final two qualifiers for Steve Clarke' side are away to Greece and at home to Denmark in November.

"The getting to major tournaments, that is massive," said 51-times capped Scotland forward Naismith.

"That we've managed to do two Euros, to get to the play-offs for the previous World Cup and narrowly miss out - it all builds a determination, an anger for not making the last World Cup."

And he added: "Knowing that you can get there, it all feeds in, it all feeds in on top of the players and the individuals progressing at their clubs. Definitely the confidence is as high as I've seen.

"In the first camp, we've done a lot of good work. This camp we need to continue that to make sure we're in that position in November so that we're really confident it's in our own hands and we believe we can do it.

"I don't think we've been in a better place in terms of players getting minutes. For an example of where they're at, look at Aaron Hickey, who's coming back from what's been a torrid couple of years and looking like a different animal.

"You've got John McGinn, Robbo (Andy Robertson) who are leading it and they've had real success at club level. So in everything around performance, we're in a great place."

One salutary lesson about the vagaries of football comes in the form of Thursday's opponents. The last time Greece were at the national stadium earlier this year, they cruised to a 3-0 win to knock Scotland down to the second tier of the Nations League.

However, Naismith is confident lessons have been learned from the 3-1 aggregate defeat.

"We've got a clear idea of what needs to be better, what we're really good at as a team," he explained.