‘SCORE GOALS AND LEIGH CAN PLAY HIS WAY INTO MY PLANS’

STEVE CLARKE has urged Leigh Griffiths to prove he is good enough to earn a Scotland return against Israel in March. The 29-year-old hasn’t worn a Dark Blue jersey since September 2018 against Albania, a consequence of fitness issues and his well-publicised battle with mental-health issues. Clarke was in attendance at Rugby Park on Wednesday night — on punditry duty — as Griffiths claimed his second goal in as many starts and teed up Christopher

Jullien for Celtic’s third goal in a 3-1 win. Imploring the forward to keep knocking on his door, Clarke said: ‘I think everybody who has got a track record that plays well over the coming weeks… the door isn’t closed on anybody. ‘In the next six weeks, if someone can hit a bit of form and make it difficult for me to leave them out, that’s what they should do. ‘I don’t want to sound flippant because it’s not what I mean but, when players are not playing for their clubs, you tend not to think about them. You think about the ones that are playing. ‘So, when Leigh wasn’t playing for Celtic, he wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. ‘If he starts in the Celtic team and scores goals, he’ll come to the front of my mind.’ Asked if he’d spoken to the player since his return to Neil Lennon’s team, Clarke, speaking before the striker and a Kilmarnock fan clashed in the main stand at Rugby Park, replied: ‘No. I don’t have any plans to go out of my way to speak with anybody in particular over the coming weeks.’