LEIGH GRIFFITHS is adamant he wants to keep Moussa Dembele on the sidelines by continuing his goalscoring form for Celtic.
The Hoops frontman, who netted 40 goals last season, has found himself behind the French Under-21 international star in the pecking order this term under Brendan Rodgers.
However, his goal in yesterday’s 2-1 win over Dundee was his third in three games and 12th of the season.
Griffiths said: “I’m in the team right now and it’s up to Moussa to shift me.”
The double-act played together in the midweek 1-0 victory over Hamilton Accies with the Scot scoring the only goal of the game.
But Rodgers has made it clear his preferred system does not include Dembele and Griffiths together as a strike partnership.
The former Hibs man is hopeful his rich vein of form will see him hold on to his place in the starting eleven.
He said: “That is why I am here, to score goals.
“The gaffer shook things up during the week and resorted back to his usual formation against Dundee. He likes to keep chopping and changing. We can adapt to whatever formation he wants to play. We, as players, just need to take that on board.
“I am feeling good. Every time I step on the park I am confident of scoring goals.”
Griffiths admits his “overall play can improve at times”, a point emphasised after the match by Rodgers, who offered no guarantees that the in-form striker will start against Partick Thistle on Tuesday.
The Hoops gaffer said: “I’ll pick what I think is the best team, whether it’s Moussa, whether it’s Leigh, whether it’s none of them and we need to go with a different structure.
“He scored a great free-kick. He needs to be better in his lay-off, giving the ball away a bit too much in the build-up play when we’re constructing the game.
“That’s an area of his game that he needs to improve on, but he has so many other great qualities. He’s a finisher, he’s a natural goalscorer which is very, very important for us.”
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