Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths: I would not change anyone in our dressing room for anybody else in Scotland

Leigh Griffiths has made a defiant defence of Celtic’s quality ahead of this afternoon’s meeting with St Johnstone.

The Hoops go into the game on the back of a miserable run that has seen them pick up just two wins from their last 10 outings.

That has brought calls for manager Neil Lennon to be replaced, and given Rangers owner, Dave King, the confidence to talk of a power shift at the top of the game.

The Scotland striker, though, is strident when he is asked if the Hoops still have the strongest squad in the country.

“One million per cent,” is Griffiths’ frank opinion.

“I wouldn’t change anybody in our dressing room for anybody else in Scotland.

“That’s my view on it, and I think everybody else in there would feel the exact same way.

“Listen, they can talk however they like. We keep everything in-house. We know what we are all about.

“If we keep doing our job, and working hard in training, results will turn for us.

“We don’t listen to outside noise. It’s about what we do. We want to collect the three points and move on.

“But we need the results to start talking. Hopefully that starts this week.”

The 30-year-old was the subject of disciplinary action from Lennon in pre-season.

Furious that the player had returned from lockdown overweight and out of condition, he left him at home when Celtic flew off for a tournament in France.

Since then, though, Griffiths has won him over, to the extent he has been praised for the attitude he has shown in working his way back to being at his sharpest.

“I definitely owe the manager personally,” Griffiths continued.

“The pressure that not just him, but the whole team and the whole squad, has been under has been big.

“But you can’t play at Celtic if you can’t handle pressure.

“We are in a bad run of form, but it only needs one result to change that, and hopefully that starts against St Johnstone.”

Which, the Celt hopes, will prevent any repeat of the ugly scenes witnessed in the Celtic Park protest following last week’s Betfred Cup exit to Ross County

“I was back home, but I saw it,” said Griffiths.

“Listen, the fans pay good money to either watch us on TV or come to the stadium, and they are allowed to vent their opinion.

“But there are certain ways to go about it. You don’t want to see players getting a police escort from the stadium.

“It was disappointing to see because the boys have been working hard.

“The run we have been on has not been favouring us.

“We didn’t get through to the next round of the cup and that was disappointing.”

Griffiths is similarly upbeat about his own readiness to meet the challenges ahead.

“I’ve been working hard. I had to miss the last few games with a slight knee problem, which hasn’t been ideal,” he said.

“I was just getting into a good rhythm and getting minutes on the pitch. Hopefully I can get a few more on Sunday and kick on.

“It happened in training on the Monday morning after the Hibs game. It just felt a wee bit sore.

“By the Wednesday, I couldn’t train, so I had to go for a scan on it. Luckily, it came back all clear.

“These little niggly injuries are so frustrating, especially now when I haven’t been able to help the team.

“Hopefully I’m back now, and I can get a good run of games between now and the New Year.

“I’ve been training the last few days while the boys were in Milan.

“Before the injury I was in a good place, I was training well every day. I was working hard on my fitness and that was coming back to maximum. Hopefully I’m not far away from that.”

Not least because tomorrow’s draw for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers is a reminder of what lies ahead for Scotland.

“Yes, of course the draw excites me,” said Griffiths.

“There’s a massive incentive to stay fit for the next five months, and make sure you’re in that squad for the European Championships.

“You need to be playing regularly at club level. So I need to keep on top of my fitness, make sure I’m injury-free and start rattling in goals again to make sure I am in that squad.

“Come March, we will be into those World Cup qualifiers, and we’ll be ready to go, hopefully with a favourable draw.”