Mo Johnston says Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths is the best lone striker Scotland have

MO JOHNSTON scored 14 goals in 38 internationals for Scotland.

That might not be a sparkling record but the former Celtic and Rangers striker had ability that current boss Gordon Strachan would love to have at his disposal.

None of the forwards in his squad to play Canada and Slovenia has yet reached double figures in the goal-scoring stakes.

Steven Fletcher has the highest total, with nine in 30 games, but six of them came against Gibraltar.

Johnston made a flying visit to Scotland from his home in Florida last week and hopes there’s someone who can develop that knack of hitting the net for Scotland.

He said: “It’s hard to go back 20 or 30 years and compare it to strikers just now.

“Leigh Griffiths is a good player and he’s not been in the Celtic team of late.

“But we need something different and it’s a hard job for Gordon, not having the strikers the country once did.

“There is nobody of the calibre of Ally McCoist, Frank McAvennie, myself, John Robertson and Brian McClair.

“There was also Eric Black, Steve Archibald, Graeme Sharp, Alan McInally Paul Sturrock Kenny Dalglish – all top strikers in the late ’80s, early ’90s.

“But it’s tough because Celtic and Rangers were really strong, so were Aberdeen and Dundee United.

“We always had good strikers back then.”

Although Griffiths had yet to get off the mark in a dark blue jersey, Johnston believes it could be worth giving him another chance next Sunday.

He went on: “Leigh is in and out the Celtic team so it’s hard for Gordon to keep picking him.

“But if he the best lone striker we have and we are looking for goals. He is the one who can bang them in if given a chance.

“This is a must-win game for Scotland. We need three points to get back in touch with Slovenia.

“If we can get the victory then a wee bit of resilience might come back into it.”

Maurice was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is a proud sponsor of the Scotland national team.