Griffiths must keep his place, insists McCoist
LEIGH GRIFFITHS should retain the role of Scotland’s starting striker when the World Cup qualifying campaign resumes against Slovenia in March, according to Ally McCoist. The Celtic forward is still searching for his first international goal after 10 appearances — six of them as a substitute, including a debut for Billy Stark in Luxembourg in November 2012.
The clamour for the inclusion of last season’s 40-goal top scorer was belatedly satisfied when he landed the tough gig of leading the line against England in last Friday’s 3-0 defeat at Wembley.
McCoist, who netted 19 times in 61 caps, was pleased to see Griffiths handed the opportunity at Wembley where the ex-Rangers manager worked as a television pundit.
However, he shares a frustration held by Griffiths and his cheerleaders that he wasn’t unleashed on October’s double header opponents from the start.
Gordon Strachan selected Chris Martin against Lithuania, when the Scots needed a late James McArthur equaliser to earn a point, then used Steven Fletcher in Slovakia.
McCoist said: ‘I’d probably stick with Griffiths. I think you’ve got to be fair to him. I was delighted to see him get a chance against England, I must admit.
‘He’d probably have preferred his chance against Lithuania at home than England away. England is a great game and you want to play in it, of course.
‘But if you’re a centre-forward for Scotland in the last 15 years or so, you’re going to find it tough down at Wembley. You want to play at home to Malta or Lithuania.’
Martin and Fletcher have enjoyed featuring against the minnows of European football such as Malta and Gibraltar, boosting their scoring statistics in rare victories for Strachan’s stumbling side.
Strachan will hope that pair are on scoring form in the Championship for Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday through the winter months and that Griffiths sees an increase in game time for Celtic.
McCoist also identifies a goal threat in Oliver Burke, an unused substitute in London but considered a tantalising weapon for the future.
‘I can understand what Gordon is trying to do with Chris Martin, who has come in for a hell of a lot of stick,’ said McCoist. ‘He’s not going to go in behind at all.
‘He’s just a physical unit. You’re going to try to get the ball into him and get people in around him.
‘I like the look of the boy Burke. He’s unbelievably raw. There is still massive amounts of coaching and learning to be done but we can all see something there you wouldn’t mind working with and he seems really keen.
‘I’m not sure what he is yet. He’s physical enough. He could be one coming in from wide. He could be an option up front. We’ve definitely got options.
‘But we can play whoever we want up front. The fact is that if we don’t play the game with the tempo we attempted to play at against England, then it doesn’t matter.
‘If you don’t get at people quickly and get balls in the box quickly and move the ball quickly, then it doesn’t matter who you play up front. It’s how you play more than who you play.’