STRIKER’S PEER PRESSURE
Griffiths: Give me a chance to sink Poles
LEIGH GRIFFITHS staked his claim to a Scotland start against Poland by dragging Celtic back to within a point of Premiership leaders Aberdeen yesterday. The in-form Parkhead striker headed a thumping winner as Ronny Deila’s side overcame the loss of an early Hamilton goal to win 2-1 at New Douglas Park. Dedryck Boyata endured mixed fortunes, his calamitous defending allowing Accies striker Gramoz Kurtaj to open the scoring in four minutes — before volleying home the equaliser. Griffiths claimed the winner with
his 12th goal of the season after watching Scotland strike rivals Steven Fletcher, Jordan Rhodes and Chris Martin all score for their clubs on Saturday. ‘The other three scored yesterday. I had to do my bit,’ said Griffiths. ‘I was watching Soccer Saturday and saw them pop up. ‘Jordan got a double, Fletch got one then Chris scored and I’m sitting going: “Oof, I need to do something special tomorrow”. ‘So I’m happy to get the goal, get the win and go into the international break on a high.’ Fletcher looks likely to remain Gordon Strachan’s first-choice striker for the vital Euro 2016 qualifier at Hampden on Thursday after hitting his second goal of the season for Sunderland against West Brom. After a dozen goals before mid-October, however, Griffiths has asked the question, adding: ‘I can only concentrate on what I’m doing for Celtic. ‘If I keep doing well and scoring, the manager is going to have a tough job to decide who is going to play. ‘We will see who he picks on Thursday.’ Deila, meanwhile, revealed Charlie Mulgrew is likely to pull out of the Scotland squad with a thigh injury after reporting for duty last night. Norway’s Stefan Johansen is also set to withdraw from international duty with a back problem. ‘Charlie will struggle but he will meet up and he will have a scan and they know what to do,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘He hasn’t trained fully. I think if he plays then it’s strange if he hasn’t even trained with us. ‘But I have good communication with Gordon and I have complete trust in what he is doing.’
WOLVES midfielder Kevin McDonald has withdrawn from Strachan’s squad with a back injury.