We have to keep Griffiths quiet, says Saints keeper

ST JOHNSTONE: Celtic striker the big threat to Perth side

Leigh Griffiths’ predictable unpredictability makes him Celtic’s dangerman.

And St Johnstone have got a hard job preventing him ruining their day for the second time in a fortnight, according to Zander Clark.

The Scotland striker pounced on a loose ball in the box to send the Perth side out of the Betfred Cup and the Saints keeper knows that he will be eyeing up a McDiarmid Park double.

“Leigh Griffiths had a couple of chances that he missed that night and maybe other strikers would let it affect them,” said Clark.

“But he was always hungry to get into the box. He’s one of those players where you’re never really sure where he’s going to go. He pops into wee pockets of space and is always running off the defenders’ shoulders.

“The boys know that they will need to be concentrated for the full game to try and keep him quiet.

“He is capable of producing a bit of magic from nothing so we’ll need to make sure we limit him to few chances.

“If you give him the half yard, he can create something.”

The manner in which the Saints players stuck to their manager’s game plan was impressive last time and a similar level of tactical discipline will be required on Sunday.

“Much more of the same is going to be needed and hopefully this time we can take chances that we create,” said Clark.

“We’ll set out to put in a similar performance. But we know we’ll need to be solid again in defence. That is not just the back four and myself. It’s everyone all over the park.

“We need to stick to the jobs we’ve been given and be hard to breakdown.”

Clark has been in top form over the last few week and is targeting a clean sheet at the weekend.

He said: “It’s always good if you can keep a shut-out against the top team in the league.

“I’ll be wanting to keep us in the game as long as I can – and hopefully we can nick something.”

Picture: SNS. St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark has been in good form.