Celtic dropped points in two back to back league games which saw Rangers leapfrog them in the table before the international break. Lennon’s men will definitely get some more opportunity of catching Rangers throughout the season, but one area might be worrying him a bit.
The striker situation at the club isn’t the best as Odsonne Edouard seems to be the only main man up front. We still aren’t sure what we are going to get from Leigh Griffiths this season given his troubles in the past 7-8 months. The striker decided to take some time off football from December last year due to personal issues. He made a comeback this season but has struggled with injuries of late.
Sutton indicates Celtic shouldn’t have unrealistic expectation from Griffiths
Celtic legend Chris Sutton believes that Celtic shouldn’t have any significant expectation from Griffiths this year and he might find it hard to get back to his former best.
Writing for Daily Record, Sutton said, ”There was excitement about the Leigh Griffiths earlier in the season, but it might have been unrealistic to expect him to maintain it. There was a bounce, but it’s going to take him time to get fully back to where he was a couple of seasons ago. Some setbacks might be expected, and we just don’t know where he will be in the process come January.”
Why should Celtic be on the lookout for a striker?
Lennon will hope that the striker could get back to his best to take some goal scoring burden off Edouard. However, he looked a bit rusty in the earlier appearances, and the latest injury setback would further hamper things. The Scotsman is likely to be fit and available after the international break, but it remains to be seen whether he would be able to make a positive impact on the pitch.
Last season, the Hoops brought in Oliver Burke and Timothy Weah in January who shared some of the goal-scoring burdens with Edouard. Lennon might have to bring in strike options again in winter. Vakoun Issouf Bayo is another alternative, but he is yet to prove himself at this level.
Any kind of injury setback to Edouard can spell big trouble for Celtic as the other two forwards aren’t at their best. With Rangers looking stronger this season, having squad depth is going to be essential. We believe that Celtic might have to be patient with Griffiths, and even then we might not see the best of him.
