Steven Naimsith avoids punishment over elbow incident in Serbia game

THE former Rangers star was at the centre of controversy when he appeared to catch the Srdan Mijailovic with a flying elbow during Saturday’s 0-0 opening World Cup bore.

STEVEN NAISMITH has been forgiven by Serbian star Srdan Mijailovic for the elbow incident that could have landed the Everton ace with a ban.

The former Rangers star was at the centre of controversy when he appeared to catch the Serb with a flying elbow during Saturday’s 0-0 opening World Cup bore.

Naismith escaped punishment from FIFA after delegate Christian Schmolzer didn’t mention the incident in his report.

And the 18-year-old Red Star Belgrade midfielder doesn’t hold any grudges against Naismith.

He said: “In every match you have to use elbows to gain height. Maybe it wasn’t intentionally – these things happen in football.

“I was scared before the match because of the atmosphere but I played the best I could.”

Meanwhile, Serb keeper Vladimir Stojkovic says the point in Glasgow was vindication for boss Sinisa Mihajlovic’s decision to cram his team full of kids.

And the Partizan Belgrade goalie expects a win over Wales tonight.

He said: “We have a lot of young players and the coach put his faith in them and it worked out.

“A win would give us four points, which is a good start.”

Taken from the Daily Record