Brendan Rodgers has revealed Leigh Griffiths will miss Celtic’s meeting with Hibernian on Saturday afternoon, reports The Sun. The 28-year-old recently pulled out of international duty for Scotland in a bid to boost his fitness – causing him to miss a double-header against Israel in the Nations League and Portugal in a friendly – and Rodgers says the striker won’t be available for his club either.
Griffiths allegedly picked up a calf injury during the international break which will force him out of facing former boss Neil Lennon when Celtic welcome Hibs to Parkhead. Rodgers said: “Leigh is not available for Hibs. He got injured early on in the break and now he’s ill. It was a slight issue with his calf, so we shall see how he is. But Leigh made the right decision to miss the international games.”
The 28-year-old has struggled for consistency this season, scoring only one goal in eight Scottish Premiership games. Such form has led to him falling down the pecking order for Scotland too, being benched in favour of Steve Naismith. There’s a belief that Alex McLeish’s preference for the latter led to Griffiths pulling out of international duty, but such claims are unfounded. There’s little doubt the Celtic striker would have been on the bench against Israel.
While McLeish is in charge of Scotland, Griffiths’ hopes of featuring might be slim. That’s doesn’t appear to be the case at Celtic, however, with Rodgers standing by his player over the international row.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
