WATCH ME GO
Griffiths vows to be Scots’ goal machine
LEIGH GRIFFITHS insists he is ready to go on a Scotland scoring streak after breaking his duck against England.
The Celtic striker’s stunning free-kicks against England in June ended a run of 12 games for the national team without a goal.
Now brimming with confidence since beating Joe Hart twice from long distance, the 27-year-old now expects to score every time he plays and looks certain to lead the line in tomorrow night’s World Cup qualifier against Lithuania in Vilnius.
‘I think after my miss against Slovenia, when I hit the bar, I thought: “Is this ever going to happen?”’ revealed Griffiths.
‘Then I hit the post two minutes later and thought: “Well, it’s definitely not meant to be”.
‘But then the England game speaks for itself. You could see
the joy on my face when I scored the first — and the second one was even better. Hopefully, I can add to my tally on Friday night.’ Since his double at Hampden, Griffiths has continued in a rich vein of form, claiming five goals in nine games as Celtic reached the Champions League group stage. Insisting he won’t take his selection by Gordon Strachan as read, however, he added: ‘The manager has 10 willing players on the bench who he can choose to bring on. I can’t take anything for granted. I scored two goals against England, but that’s gone now. I need to look forward. ‘It doesn’t make a difference to me who the opposition is — if a chance falls to me within 20-25 yards, then I’m having a shot at goal. ‘We have goals from all over the park but, nine times out of 10, the striker gets the most attention. If that’s on me, I’ll take it on my shoulders and try to put the ball in the net.’ The Scots must beat Lithuania on their artificial pitch, then overcome Malta at Hampden on Monday to preserve any prospect of reaching next summer’s finals in Russia. Griffiths is one of six Celtic players in the squad and he believes all of them could start tomorrow night. ‘We are all playing with confidence,’ he said, ‘but it’s not my decision to make — that’s down to the manager. ‘He won’t name his team until Friday morning, so we will work hard in training and show him what he’s got.’