Neil Lennon didn’t mess around when he was questioned about selecting Leigh Griffiths ahead of Albian Ajeti for Celtic’s Europa League tie against Lille.
On Saturday Griffiths replaced the former West Ham striker and scored almost instantly to drag Celtic back into the match.
In most circumstances that would put Griffiths in line to start the next match with the former Hibs striker singing the praises of his manager at a media conference on Tuesday.
The Griffiths-Lennon dynamic is a little different however, perhaps best described as grudging respect with the events of Lockdown putting an extra strain on the duo ahead of a season like no other.
Covering Lennon’s pre-match interview with BT Sport, The Sun reports:
Swiss hitman Albian Ajeti has been given the nod up front and Lennon insists Griff is still some way short of full match sharpness.
Asked if it was a difficult choice benching the Scotland frontman, he added: “No. Albian has played very, very well. He was superb against Milan but didn’t get a lot of service.
“Leigh did what he does. He’s an impact player at the minute. I don’t think he’s fully match fit at the minute, so it was an easy decision to start Albian. Of course, we’ve got Odsonne and Griff on the bench to hopefully make an impact when called upon.”
As it was Edouard came off the bench to replace Ajeti, making his first appearance since returning a positive test on international duty with the French u-21 side.
Griffiths watched the 90 minutes among the substitutes in the stand, his boss doesn’t do sentiment but there could be a role for the 30-year-old striker at Hampden on Sunday as Celtic hunt for a place in the final of the Scottish Cup.
