End- Of- Season Goals

Leigh Griffiths is determined to make the last few games count as Celtic want to remain unbeaten in the league and also lift the Scottish Cup.

- Mark Henderson

LEIGH Griffiths enjoyed modelling Celtic’s new home kit in front of 3,000 fans last week and he can’t wait to wear it in action next season. But once the striker got changed and the crowd dispersed, his mind emptied of the future and returned to the current campaign.

While there are only a few weeks left in this term, the 26-year-old is hungry to make the most of them to finish a frustrating 12 months with a flourish and help the Hoops make history.

Continuing from where he left off last season, Griffiths was on fire in the opening months of the campaign until a series of troublesome injuries hampered his momentum and saw him lose his starting berth to summer signing Moussa Dembele, whose sensational form made him one of the first names on team-sheet.

When the Frenchman pulled his hamstring in the Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Rangers last month, however, a now fully-fit Griffiths was presented with an opportunity to stake a claim again. He came off the bench to win the penalty, converted by Scott Sinclair, to seal the 2-0 win and book Celtic’s spot in the Hampden showpiece against Aberdeen. The following week, he produced an excellent display and scored one of the five goals for Brendan Rodgers’ side at Ibrox in the sensational 5-1 Glasgow derby trouncing.

Although he was unable to follow it up with a goal in the 4-1 triumph over St Johnstone at the weekend, Griffiths’ determination to make a positive impression was evident.

And with Celtic only three games away from going through the entire league campaign unbeaten and one victory away from the club’s first domestic treble in 16 years, the Scotland internationalist is on a mission to make this dream a reality.