Steven Naismith isn’t bothered about the angry reaction he’s likely to get on his return to Ibrox tomorrow.
In the summer of 2012 the former Rangers (IL) favourite called a media conference to explain why he wouldn’t TUPE his contract over to Sevco.
Naismith made it clear that he had no interest in the new club in a warning to the fans about the motives of Charles Green.
Despite that plea, after some criticism of Celtic and the SFA followed by cups of tea being handed out the fans were soon snapping up season tickets and packing out the Superstore to buy goods from Sports Direct.
The liquidation of Rangers and setting up of a new club to play in the first round of the League Cup, Scottish Cup and SFL Challenge Cup is something many fans would rather forget about with Naismith an uncomfortable reminder of the truth
Looking at the on loan forward returning to Ibrox Levein told The Scotsman:“One of the reasons I say it’s good we can go to Ibrox with players like Naismith and Lafferty is that they can handle everything.
“They’ve played in bigger arenas than this. Steven is an experienced player. It won’t faze him at all. In all honesty, it has not been in my head. It has just been whether his hamstring is at a point where it can get through the game without any further injury.
“Regards the further injury thing, we have 12 or 13 games to go, and having him out for a longer period of time is the thing that worries me more than anything. So we’ll see how he gets on but, players like him, they’re not fazed, not nervous, not worried about playing at the venue.
“They just go into these games thinking: ‘I need to be at the top of my game today’. They’ll take the ball under pressure, and when an opportunity arises there’s no fear.
“So, I am not interested [in any negativity that may greet Naismith]. My only thing is if Steven is going to be fit or not. If he is, I can pitch him in without worrying about anything. He is experienced enough to deal with whatever happens.”
Since knocking Hibs out of the Scottish Cup and making his natural order claim Levein has watched Hearts slip nine points behind their city rivals.