Leigh Griffiths has clarified his fitness position today as he informed Celtic supporters he needs more minutes.
Griffiths has saved Neil Lennon on several occasions this season. Despite only scoring four goals this season, all of them have been vital. Griff has scored in key games against St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Sparta Prague, and now Hearts.
Yesterday was arguably his most important. Coming on for extra-time, he popped up in the Scottish Cup final to fire Celtic 3-2 ahead. He then slotted home a confident penalty after the Hoops had allowed Hearts to equalise for a second time.
Yet despite all of this, Griffiths has only started one game all season. There have, therefore, been question marks about his fitness levels, and today he’s clarified where he’s at in that regard.
As quoted by Sky Sports, Griff said: “Hopefully I have done that (impressed) and given the manager a wee bit of a headache going forward. He said after the game that I need to get fitter. Well that green stuff, the pitch, I need to be on that to get match fit.
“I am not unfit. I am fit. But just not match fit and you can tell. Obviously I have not had a run of games. Hopefully I can get a wee run now and get my fitness right back up.
“There is a difference between being fit and match fit and you need to play games to get match fit and the more minutes I get, the fitter I will be.”
Griffiths’ Celtic frustrations come out here
This is a really interesting choice of words from Griffiths here. You can sense his frustrations, and it’s clear he isn’t happy with his game-time. He’s made his point and he’s perhaps made it in a more forthright manner than Lennon would like.
But he’s spot on. He really has done his bit for the manager this season. He’s come on in some horrible situations and saved Lennon from further pressure this year. It’s time he got rewarded for that.
It’s not as if Odsonne Edouard, Albian Ajeti, and Patryk Klimala are shining this term. In fact, not one Celtic striker has claimed the lone-striker position as their own. So Griffiths is quite right to put his case forward.
Had the Scotland international not scored against Hearts yesterday, Neil could’ve been out of a job this morning. That’s the kind of impact Leigh is having this season when he’s being given an opportunity. He’s doing more than enough to earn some more regular starts.
Griffiths claims that he’s fit, so it’s down to the manager to listen to him. It will be interesting to hear Lennon’s retort to these comments from his star striker. It’s clear Celtic’s number nine has no reason to be sitting on the bench anymore.
Celtic host Ross County on Wednesday in Premiership action, Let’s see if Griff has done enough to start.
In other news, FIFA have sent out a class tweet recognising young Celtic star’s achievements.
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