Celtic suffered a surprising loss against Livingston right before the international break which saw them drop to the second place in the table. Neil Lennon will hope that his men can regain their form soon as Rangers have opened up a two-point lead on the top of the table.
The Hoops made plenty of acquisitions this summer, especially in defence. However, there have been talks about them being short on options upfront. Odsonne Edouard is clearly the no. 1 striker at the club, but beyond him, Lennon could have some problems if the Frenchman gets injured.
Leigh Griffiths has been off-colour in the last few months, and the jury is still out on whether he would be able to get back to his former best. The forward is currently out with injuries, but he is expected to be back after the international break.
Lennon on Griffiths leaving on loan
Recently some rumours emerged that the Hoops will send the forward away on loan in January to get him playing regularly. However, Lennon rebuffed those claims and said (Daily Record), ”Leigh won’t go on loan in January. He’s too good a player. He just needs more time to get up to speed.”
“Leigh isn’t fit just now. He’s had a thigh strain and is starting back training. He had a virus that kept him out of the squad for Hibs and isn’t fit enough at the minute to figure. That’s where we are. He needs to do a bit more cardio work.”
Right call from Lennon?
Sending him away on loan would have been foolish from Celtic’s point of view as they are not brimming with options up top. Vakoun Issouf Bayo has featured on occasions this season, but he is yet to hit the ground running and is untested at the top level.
The club will hope that Griffiths will get back to his best soon as in a long season, Lennon will need his backup players to step up with the Hoops competing on various front. Edouard suffered injury issues last season after January, but then they had the likes of Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah who led the line well.
Maybe if Griffiths’ injury situation persists, Celtic could look to bring in a striker in January on loan. However, as things stand, Lennon clearly sees Griffiths as an option. The next two months for the Scotsman could be crucial as he quickly needs to take some scoring burden off Edouard.
