FIRM WARNING
Leigh insists no Scottish club can live with Celtic
LEIGH GRIFFITHS helped ease Celtic to the top of the Premiership table — then warned forthcoming opponents Rangers that no team in Scotland can live with the champions’ attacking threat.
Griffiths, who hopes to shake off a niggling hamstring injury in order to partake in Scotland’s opening World Cup qualifier against Malta next Sunday, scored a spectacular seventh goal of the season to set Brendan Rodgers’ team on course for a 4-1 victory over Aberdeen.
With James Forrest, Scott Sinclair and Tom Rogic also finding the net against last season’s runners-up, the 26-year-old striker believes the Parkhead side possess an array of attacking talent in prime form ahead of the club’s next league fixture against their Old Firm rivals in a fortnight’s time.
Asked if there was a team in the country that could handle the threat, he responded: ‘The way we go forward? No. I don’t think so, especially when we break at pace.
‘We have me, Moussa (Dembele), Scott, James, Patrick (Roberts), Tom and Ryan (Christie), who was on the bench today.
‘It’s formidable the way we can go forward at pace and hurt teams. It’s great to have those kind of attacking options.
‘Everybody is talking about Celtic and Rangers but Aberdeen are a decent side. For us to beat them 4-1, even though we scored two late goals, we dominated large parts of the game.’
Substituted after just under an hour, Griffiths will report for international duty this week fully intent on trying to secure a place in Gordon Strachan’s team for the match in Valletta next weekend.
‘I’ve been struggling with my hamstring tendon since before we played Hapoel at home, but I’ve battled through it,’ explained the forward, who scored 40 goals last season. ‘I will go away with Scotland, see the physios there and hear what they are thinking.
‘I always want to play for my country. I don’t want to let anybody down. Hopefully, I can pull through and get a chance. That will be Gordon’s decision. If he sees I’m ready to go, I’ll be delighted. If not, I’ll sit on the bench, bite my tongue and, if I’m called upon, I will give my best like I always do.’
Griffiths celebrated his goal by sprinting the length of the field to hold aloft a T-shirt in tribute to Kieran McDade, the 13-year-old schoolboy who died after suffering a heart attack while playing football on Thursday.
He added: ‘It was fitting that I scored in the 13th minute, the boy’s age. His family got to meet the manager and the players before the game, so hopefully they enjoyed it and I hope the wee man is up there in the sky smiling because we got the three points.’