Alex McLeish defended his team selection and said Steven Naismith was destined to make an impact after the forward starred in Scotland's 2-0 win over Albania at Hampden.

Naismith saw his header knocked into the goal by an Albanian defender to give Scotland a second half lead and then nodded in the goal that put the result beyond doubt. However, the Hearts forward wasn't part of the original squad and was only called up after injury forced Oli McBurnie's withdrawal.

Despite not being a first pick, Naismith was picked by McLeish to start alongside Johnny Russell, surprising may who felt Leigh Griffiths would be first choice up front.

After seeing the 31-year old make the biggest impact on the game, McLeish felt his decision was vindicated.

"I work with the players every day," he said. "I see them, you guys don't.

"So I think I'm pretty well qualified to select who I choose to. And I feel those two did very well for us, Johnny Russell and Naisy.

"If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I said that to Naisy. It's happened to me - I was dropped by Scotland and got called up again and never looked back.

"I spoke to Naisy in the summer to come on the trip and he was suffering with a heel injury and he asked if he could stay at home and let it recover. I said if you start the season well then we'll consider you for selection. I didn't call him in initially but when he arrived I said: 'It's meant to be'."

McLeish also explained Russell's selection, then suggested that Griffiths hadn't fitted his system for the game, though saying that may change for future matches.

"Johnny was lively in the Mexico game and he was always in my mind," he said. "I like his skills and his powerful running at defences.

"I wanted to play a pairing and Steven Naismith was showing up well in training also. But he's continued the good start he has had.

"We got Leigh on, we wanted to get him minutes. He is still very important to us.

"Sometimes the system doesn't suit the player. I know there's been a lot of talk bout me playing players out of position and I would have had to have done that tonight to keep other players happy.

"But we love them all, we want them all to be involved and there will be times we change the system to suit certain players who were on the bench."