Big Eck insists Griffiths still big part of his plans
ALEX McLeish has reassured Leigh Griffiths that he remains a big part of his plans after the Scotland manager dropped the Celtic striker for Monday night’s Nations League win over Albania.
Griffiths was the toast of the nation a little over a year ago after his two stunning long-range freekicks came so close to clinching a memorable victory over England in a Russia 2018 qualifier at Hampden.
But he had to sit in the stands of a bitterly cold and half-empty stadium and watch a player who had only been called into the squad a week earlier lead the line for Scotland against Albania.
McLeish, who made the audacious decision to play Steven Naismith instead in attack, said: “Listen, I’ve had to make these calls before. Griff’s not
playing as a starter for Celtic at the moment, only in some games. Naisy is there every single week for Hearts and I know what Griff can do.
“I think he was a little bit isolated in the Belgium game. Let’s face it, it was almost mission impossible for him the other night. But again, we know what he can do.
“He came on and had a free-kick in his favourite position and it’s always good if he can get a goal. He’s still very valuable to us.
“They will get annoyed. That’s just a fact of the game. Some of them will be p **** d off with me, but I hope that in 24 hours they calm down and they are willing to go again for us because they are so important as we build a new era.
“We are losing some senior players over the last year or so and a lot of young guys have come into the team. They are opting in.
“There are some guys in great form who never played and they must be gutted. I really feel for them.”
McLeish has stressed that Naismith, who had a hand in both of the second-half goals, will need to maintain his form with Hearts in the coming weeks to keep his place in the starting line-up for the next Group C1 match against Israel in Haifa next month.
“It will be hard to say that I’m not playing him now [against Israel],” he said. “The media will be the first to question me on that one. But it depends on form over the next few weeks.
“Naisy knows the standards he has to keep up, but he’s a player who’s been round the block.
“He does his bit for the team and he’s good in the air. But Griff has a lot of these qualities as well and is a fantastic finisher. We’re going to need him.”
James Forrest, who was a huge favourite of McLeish’s predecessor Gordon Strachan, wasn’t involved in a single minute of either the 4-0 defeat to Belgium on Friday or the Albania win.
Stephen O’Donnell, the Kilmarnock right-back, was preferred to the 20-time capped Celtic winger at wing back when Ryan Fraser withdrew injured.
However, McLeish explained the 27-year-old, who has been in good form for his club once again this term, was only omitted due to the system he opted for.
“James was one of the few guys I got to speak to,” McLeish added. “I told him we wouldn’t be playing 3-5-2 all the times and there will be times when we need him in the wide areas.”