Neil Lennon has revealed that there has been a dramatic improvement in Leigh Griffiths’ conditioning.
The striker hasn’t played any sort of football since the start of December but has been at Lennoxtown for the last five weeks training.
Griffiths’ personal problems have been at the same time as Celtic have suffered real problems in attack with Odsonne Edouard the only genuine striker available to Lennon.
Trips to Pittodrie and Ibrox seem unlikely venues for Griffiths to make his comeback but the final SPFL match of the season at home to Hearts in three weeks time appears to be a realistic target.
Following the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock Lennon was asked by Radio Scotland how close Griffiths was to a return to the side.
He said: “Not sure yet, he is only just out on the grass, working with the fitness boys. It’s hard to put a time scale on it but certainly his conditioning over the last couple of weeks has improved dramatically, so that could be a nice bonus for us in terms of going forward.”
Lennon was the Celtic manager that signed Griffiths from Wolves in January 2014 but resigned from the club at the end of that season.
In August Griffiths scored his 100th Celtic goal in the Europa League win over Suduva but all eyes are now looking out for his return to competitive action.
CLICK HERE for Lennon interview, Griffiths quotes at 12 minutes.