Leighproved hewasclass actforScots

HIS goals aside – and both were exceptional – Leigh Griffiths for me was the best Scotland player on the park against England last week.

The striker worked his socks off, especially in that opening half when Scotland were up against it and he was getting absolutely no service at all.

Griffiths showed the extent to which he has improved his all-round game under Brendan Rodgers over the past year and I really thought that he was outstanding.

The goals that he scored will give a massive boost to his confidence after a season in which he has effectively played second fiddle to Moussa Dembele.

Those free-kicks to beat Joe Hart were as good as any free-kicks you will see at any level. To be absolutely frank, it takes a player of special ability to step up and do that to different sides of the goal in such quick succession and in a game of that magnitude.

One or two have mentioned that Hart ought to have done better with the first but I don’t really buy that. I think you have to credit the talent to create the goal rather than blame the keeper. He will still be walking on air a bit as he enjoys a bit of down time now, and so he should.

It was a remarkable way to make his mark in the game and it was just unfortunate that Scotland weren’t able to hang on and get the win that would have really made it such a special day.

It might regurgitate the theory of whether or not Rodgers can work out a way that incorporates both Griffiths and Dembele into the starting line-up.

So far, Rodgers has preferred to go with just one of them starting, although it is something that can possibly change during the game. We saw them dovetail at Hampden earlier this season but I do think that the current system works better with one of them up front.

What Saturday’s game did, though, was underline that Griffiths is more than capable of bringing something to the table.