FRANK MCGARVEY is backing Leigh Griffiths to become Neil Lennon’s first choice striker for Celtic when football finally resumes. The 29-year-old hit a hat-trick in the last game before Coronavirus forced all games to be postponed indefinitely and the ex-Celtic striker believes that if he can maintain that form, he will be the number one striker for years to come.
Speaking to the Glasgow Times, McGarvey believes that Griffiths can prove his worth to the club and improve on his goal tally for Celtic when picking up from where he left off with the Scottish Champions.
“I think now it is up to him where he goes. He is in a small band of players who have scored more than 100 goals for Celtic so he has already shown what he can do. And those two free-kicks that he scored against England in a game at the very top level of football are iconic goals now. He has a gift and at just 29 he is still in the prime years of his career. If he does things properly in terms of training and eating and recovering then he has the ability to play for at least another three or four years at the top level.”
Griffiths fought back against personal issues and fitness problems to get himself back to scoring goals for Celtic. McGarvey believes that his capabilities and ability to bounce-back from adversity means that he can play at a high level for years to come.
“Deep within himself I suspect Leigh will always have known that he could come back and score goals. You are born with that. It is instinctive. He will then have taken confidence, though, from the goals going in and feeling his physical fitness improve and his conditioning return. I am sure he would have finished the season fairly strongly.
“But the thing with the really great strikers is that you are not scoring goals in pockets or doing it for a few months here and there but you are consistent in terms of doing it week after week and season after season. He should still have a lot of football in him and now it is about what he wants for himself. He has the capability it is just making sure that he has everything else tuned towards playing football.”
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