Former Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas has disclosed that he understands why Scotland boss Steve Clarke decided not to pick fit again Hoops striker Leigh Griffiths for his current national team squad, the Courier reports.
Griffiths returned to action against St Johnstone last weekend, scoring for the Hoops in the 2-0 win. That has prompted the likes of Michael Stewart writing in the Scottish Sun to express befuddlement that Griffiths wasn’t selected for the national team.
However, Douglas, who played with Griffiths at Dundee between 2009 and 2011, can see why Steve Clarke was hesitant to being the Hoops man back.
“A difficult situation”
“For Steve Clarke, it’s a difficult situation” Douglas began, in his column for the Courier.
“If he was to suddenly put him in, he’d get slaughtered for it but if things don’t go our way you’ll probably have people saying we should have at least had Leigh on the bench, even just to have the option to bring him on if we’re struggling. It’s a no-win situation to be honest” he concluded.
Perhaps Clarke just concluded that Griffiths hasn’t played enough football yet. After all, his cameo against St Johnstone was his first appearance for the Hoops since March.
Hoops boss could have spoken to Scotland counterpart
Maybe Neil Lennon suggested to Clarke that Griffiths isn’t ready for an international call-up yet. However, now that Scotland are in the Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia next month, Griffiths will be desperate to take part in that game.
That could have a positive impact for Celtic. Griffiths, in Celtic’s games between now and when the Scotland squad is announced, will be giving it his all. That will be to make sure that he gets a Scotland call-up.
With the Hoops having a very busy schedule in the next few weeks, he is sure to feature for Celtic. He might even start some games.
If Griffiths can keep on the goal trail, he will definitely be in the Scotland squad. He is just the type of player who could fire Scotland to the Euro finals.
In other news, Callum McGregor’s Scotland responsibilities showed why he should be Celtic’s next captain.
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