The Rangers forward has been shocked by the abuse levelled at the players in the wake of their last-gasp win over Liechtenstein, which saw them fight back from behind and snatch the points in the 97th minute.

And Naismith insists the only way Scotland will qualify for a major tournament again is if the whole nation throws their backing behind the team.

He said: "To be honest, since the two games, I can't believe the amount of negativity about the whole situation. We are sitting top of a group with one win and a draw.

"We didn't have a good performance at home in the last game but we won it. Somebody has always got something bad to say.

"It's been so long since we've been to a major tournament, that I feel as though everybody should start pushing in the one direction and try to get the feelgood factor back into Scottish football.

"As a kid, I remember France 98. That was probably my biggest memory - just how good everybody felt in the country going to watch the games and being right up for everything.

"But every time there is an international, there is always criticism from everywhere.

"To be honest, most of the boys just expect it now. But if we want to get to these major tournaments, I think everybody just needs to look more to the positives."

Boss Craig Levein reportedly singled out James McFadden and Kris Boyd for criticism in the dressing room midweek, while Boyd was also the subject of a scathing newspaper column by former Rangers striker Mark Hateley.

But Naismith believes picking on individuals is unfair, insisting: "The only person, I would say, who has the right to pick out individuals is the manager.

"Going through life, people don't like other people and they don't like the way they play and they are always going to have a bad opinion of them no matter how well they do.

"I think it's unfair of people to start picking on individuals."

And Naismith is also sick of being held up against great Scottish players of the past.

He said: "Everybody keeps comparing us to players in the past but football has changed since then.

"We don't have the same squads, we're probably better in some areas than they were and not as good in other areas.

"What we have is what we have. If we are going to get to a major tournament, it's going to be with the majority of the boys who are in the squad at the moment.

"In terms of individuals we haven't got the players we used to have but we've definitely got the team spirit and I think that showed in the Liechtenstein game. We fought to the 97th minute.

"I'm not saying for a minute, as a squad, that we're not good enough to get to a major final or compete at the highest level because I think we are.

"It's just we might do it in different ways. We've not got many players who are going to take two or three players on at a time and score individuals goals. I would say we are more of a team.

"We've got top players, Darren Fletcher is playing every week for the biggest club in the world and he is a top class player but he is not the type of player who is going to take two or three players on.

"In the squad in general we don't have that type of player and I think that's why we are going to play the way that suits us as a squad."