Griffiths hopeful of adding his own special chapter to Miller’s tale
LEIGH GRIFFITHS identified Rangers striker Kenny Miller as the act to follow after a selfless night of striker play from the Celtic hero served Scotland so impressively in Lithuania.
Having broken his international duck in sensational fashion against England in June, Griffiths was not required to produce the World Cup qualifying scoring feats in Vilnius.
Instead, he bolstered his assist count with one for Stuart Armstrong from a first-half corner, then teed up James McArthur with 18 minutes of the contest remaining to seal a smooth 3-0 success.
Typically tireless, this was a mature performance from Griffiths, the likes of which Celtic increasingly witnessed towards the end of last season and the beginning of this in the Champions League qualifiers.
The lone-striker role with Scotland was an unrewarding beat for Miller (below). But his efforts did spawn 69 caps and 18 goals, scoring against European heavyweights Germany, Italy and Croatia.
Griffiths now hopes to have persuaded Gordon Strachan to acknowledge he’s suited to that role for many years to come.
‘There are a lot of thankless tasks to perform at times,’ said Griffiths. ‘But it’s not about a striker only getting goals. Playing that role is difficult. It’s about working hard for the team.
‘That’s what gives you the team performance and the result for the country. I need to try to put myself about, hold the ball up, bring others into play, get behind the defence, try to score goals, stretch teams.
‘The second corner I put in, Stuart got on the end of it with a great finish. I got another assist with Jamesie. That’s my game.
‘If I can improve my all-round performance, help the team, get assists and chip in with goals, then that’s good.
‘Working with guys like Gordon Strachan and Brendan Rodgers will improve my game.
‘Kenny Miller is the perfect example. He played that lone striker role for years for Scotland. He scored big goals in big games and played on well into his 30s.
‘If I can replicate what he did for the national team and chip in with a few goals, then I will be buzzing.
‘As a striker, you want to be selfish and you want to score goals. It doesn’t matter who we are playing, I will always be trying to score.
‘Hopefully, I can get the ball in the back of the net against Malta. But, if not, I hope I can set up someone else.’ While then England boss Roy Hodgson was lambasted for subjecting Harry Kane, his best striker and Premier League top scorer, to taking corners at Euro 2016, Scotland’s most lethal marksman remains quite at home with flag-kick duty. Griffiths poses little physical presence for the arrival of a dead-ball in the area, so — as with his club teams over the years — he is happy to use setpiece expertise for Scotland and pick out the likes of Armstrong. ‘I take the corners for my deliveries, the gaffer at Celtic likes them and that’s why he’s happy to keep me on them,’ said Griffiths. ‘When Gordon named the team and he told me to just do what I’d been doing for Celtic — put the ball in the right areas. ‘Thankfully, it has paid off. I liked one against Hapoel Be’er Sheva last year when Moussa (Dembele) scored a header. I normally like being in around the goalie. But in that situation, I would rather the big guys go in there and attack the ball. If I can put it in the right place for them, then so be it.
‘I’m normally screaming at Stuart to set me up. So he will be happy that I set him up this time. If we are both in the team on Monday, I’ll be hoping he can do that job for me.’
Griffiths will, of course, hope his endeavours take Scotland to where Miller’s career couldn’t reach — a major tournament.
With three games to go, the Scots are contending with Slovakia and Slovenia — their October opponents — for that play-off berth.
‘We got the win against Slovenia at Hampden, the draw against England, then came to Lithuania and won convincingly,’ added Griffiths.
‘I think that was the complete team performance from start to finish. We controlled the game and were a threat to score going forward every time.
‘We need to take that performance into Monday. Hopefully we can replicate it and get the win.’
Kenny is a perfect example of how to play as a lone striker