McFadden shoots down claims over Griffiths’ absence

JAMES McFADDEN last night insisted there is no bad blood between Scotland boss Alex McLeish and striker Leigh Griffiths. The Celtic star pulled out of this month’s double-header with Israel and Portugal to work on his ‘fitness’, but it is thought he was angry McLeish had described Hearts striker Steven Naismith as being in pole position to keep the starting jersey in Haifa. However, Scotland coach McFadden claimed a fit Griffiths will be warmly welcomed back into the fold for next month’s Nations League trip to Albania. He also shot down claims Griffiths had been singled out in the Hampden dressing room by McLeish after last month’s 4-0 friendly loss to Belgium. Asked if there were any issues between them, McFadden said: ‘No. If Leigh Griffiths is fit and available for the next squad, he will be in it. ‘Leigh was not singled out. He was not hammered in the dressing room. It’s not true. ‘Is there more to the story than Leigh Griffiths wanting to go back to Celtic to work on his fitness? No, there’s no more. It was very amicable.’ Griffiths picked up an injury during his selfimposed exile before illness ruled him out of Saturday’s 4-2 win for Celtic over Hibs. McFadden told the BBC: ‘Leigh said he wanted to work on his fitness. Subsequently, he was injured in his first training session when trying to get fit and he’s been ill since. ‘Clearly, there’s something wrong in terms of his fitness. ‘Fair play to (Griffiths). He said he was not fit enough to do both. He wants to get fitter, and he wants to make sure he is the No1 pick.’