Leigh Griffiths is likely to be back on the bench tomorrow when Celtic face Livingston in the first post-split fixture.
Yesterday it was confirmed that the club has a 12 month option on the striker’s contract that has to be activated by April 30 otherwise Griffiths will be a free agent in the summer.
Aberdeen and Hibs are both likely to show interest but they won’t be able to offer anything like the salary Griffiths is picking up at Celtic.
There are three more guaranteed fixtures before April 30, four if Celtic win in the Scottish Cup at Ibrox but Kennedy won’t let sentiment cloud his judgement with Odsonne Edouard likely to be leading the line against Livingston tomorrow.
Discussing the former Hibs striker to the Daily Record, Kennedy said:
It’s very short-term for me and that means it’s about the next game against Livingston (tomorrow) and I can’t be overly sentimental either because I need to make the right decisions for the team.
If we’re going to win at Ibrox (in the Scottish Cup) next week and have a cup run then it’s also about the rhythm and consistency of the team so I never make any promises to individual players – not even Scott Brown or Callum McGregor.
If there’s an opportunity for Leigh along the way then perfect. He missed a few against Falkirk but he always gets himself into goalscoring positions, which has been a trait of his.
He’s probably a wee bit rusty because he has been restricted in his game time but his attitude has been great. He’s been training regularly, which is good, so we have to keep working with him and see what materialises.
Prior to the Falkirk match the last game that Griffiths started was on January 30 at home to St Mirren when he was substituted at half-time.
After hitting the goal trail in December with three goals in a week against Hearts, Ross County and Hamilton Griffiths has only scored once this year, at home to Hamilton on January 27.