Rodgers casts doubt over Griffiths’ Scotland return

Brendan Rodgers offered Scotland boss Alex McLeish no encouragement by confirming Leigh Griffiths remains unavailable for Celtic.

The Hoops striker has not played since the 6-0 win over St Johnstone earlier in the month and pulled out of the last Scotland squad for fitness reasons.

Rodgers was asked about the prospects of Griffiths returning in time for next month’s Nations Cup double-header with Albania and Israel and said: “I’m not sure at this moment, we just take it day by day.

“There is not a lot of time, that’s the only thing I would say. Certainly if he was available he would be nowhere near match fit but we will see over the next few weeks where Leigh is at.

“He was here today, he was in the treatment room with the medical team.

“We have 10 injuries so our medical team are working hard with the players to get them back but there is no timeline on it.”

The champions look to be on their way back to their best with 13 goals in their last three domestic games, including the 3-0 Betfred Cup win over Hearts on Sunday.

The Northern Irishman said: “We have been working very hard on the training field, reassuring the players of their ability to focus and continue believing.

“What is important is that we can have no doubt about how we work and how we play.

“Sometimes you have periods where you don’t take your chances or don’t score and for us at the beginning of the season we weren’t creating as much.

“But we are much more synchronised in our movement now.”