Leigh Griffiths doesn’t bother with diplomacy- he knows that he is hated at Ibrox and Tynecastle.
The striker scored a hat-trick today against St Mirren which looks certain to secure his place in next Sunday’s derby alongside Odsonne Edouard.
Griffiths has scored twice at Ibrox as a Celtic player but also upset the natives with a number of other incidents such as tying a scarf around a goal-post and wiping his nose on a corner flag.
During his time out of the game the Ibrox fans weren’t slow to ‘speculate’ that he wouldn’t play football again with hostilities set to resume in eight days’ time.
Griffiths told the Daily Record:
I’m not sure why Ibrox brings the best out in me. But it’s the same when I go to Tynecastle. It seems to be a place where people hate – and I thrive on that kind of pressure.
These are the games you always want to play in, big derby games against your rivals. We’re going there for another three points. We know it will be difficult because they will be fired up.
They’ve not been playing well but they’ll want to prove a point against us. We went to Ibrox earlier in the season and dominated from start to finish to win 2-0. Hopefully we can replicate that same type of performance next Sunday.
Today’s win for Celtic opens up a 16-point gap at the top of the SPFL table and cranks up the pressure on Steven Gerrard whose side face Ross County tomorrow.
The last time the two rivals met the Ibrox men celebrated a 2-1 win at Celtic Park with a repeat of that required if this season’s title race is to continue beyond next Sunday’s clash.