Steven Naismith reckons Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic would be walking away with all the Player of the Year awards if he had stayed injury-free this season.

Gers hitman Jelavic took his strike tally for the 2010/11 campaign to 16 with a headed goal in the 5-0 rout of Motherwell in an SPL game at Fir Park last weekend.

It is an impressive haul for the Croatian given that he missed over three months of this term after having undergone surgery on the serious ankle injury he suffered against Hearts in October.

Naismith, who banged in two goals against Well himself to take his goal return for club and country to 15, has been awestruck by the L4million signing’s contribution to Walter Smith’s side in the last few months.

In fact, the Scot, who was named Rangers Fans’ Player of the Year and Rangers Players’ Player of the Year at a dinner in Glasgow last month, feels Jelavic would be walking away with a few personal prizes of his own just now.

Jelavic picked up the Goal of the Season award at the PFA Scotland bash on Sunday night for his spectacular overhead kick in the 1-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie a few weeks ago.

And he became a part of Rangers’ folklore with the dramatic, extra-time winner against Celtic that secured the Co-operative Insurance Cup for the Ibrox men.

However, the 25-year-old has not been mentioned in connection with the other major awards – the SFWA and SPL gongs – due to the lengthy spell he had on the sidelines.

Naismith said: “It has been great for us to have Nikica fully fit and in good form at this important stage of the season.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that if he had been fully fit for the majority of the season, he would be walking away with awards.

“He is producing the goods for us week in week out now and scoring in most of our games.

“That is why he is the main striker for us. We fancy him to score, or to create chances for us, every time he takes to the field at the moment.”

Naismith, who has turned his attention to beating Hearts in an SPL game at Ibrox on Saturday, has enjoyed one of the best seasons in his injury-plagued career in terms of scoring goals in recent months.

Indeed, he is hoping to match, or even better, the 19 goals he scored back in the 2006/07 season – when he was named PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year – in his side’s final three games against Hearts, Dundee United and Kilmarnock.

The former Kilmarnock kid believes training in close proximity to Jelavic at Murray Park and playing alongside the ex-Rapid Vienna frontman since August has improved the quality of his play in the final third.

He explained: “He is a top-class player. It is great playing with him. He makes those around him play better.

“He is so good at holding the ball up and bringing you into play. He knows exactly where to play the ball to get you involved.

“I think when you see how he goes about his business and witness his technical excel-lence it makes you strive to do better and improve.

“Every forward at the club can learn a lot from watching how Nikica conducts himself on and off the park. To be honest, he is a breath of fresh air.

“He is so dedicated in every training session he takes part in and the goals he has scored are a result of the work he puts in. He is an example to all his team-mates.

“He only scored one goal against Motherwell last weekend, but he struck the crossbar with a shot and had a goal ruled out for offside as well. He could have scored more – as could we as a team.

“We are playing well as a unit at the moment and are creating a lot of scoring chances. With Nikica in our line-up, we are confident we will convert the vast majority of them.”

Naismith netted a dramatic, last-minute winner for Smith’s threadbare side against Hearts in a thriller at Tynecastle last October.

But he was unable to prevent the Scottish champions slumping to a costly 1-0 defeat to Jim Jefferies’ side in the capital in January, and was relieved to sneak a 1-0 win in their only game with them in Glasgow this season in February.

So he appreciates how demanding picking up all three points will be in the home game with the Jambos this Saturday.

And he knows Rangers will have to play as well, if not better, than they did against Motherwell in order to prevail.

But he added: “If we can perform as well as we did in stages last weekend for the full 90 minutes then we should be fine.

“Hearts are difficult opponents and we will have to play extremely well to beat them, but we are full of confidence at the moment and fancy our chances of winning the game.”