THE sighting of Leigh Griffiths leading a Celtic attack in a European tie is designed to excite football's twitchers, those watchers who become obsessed by unusual visits of exotic, feathered (the striker has had a hair weave) creatures.

Griffiths had not started a game for Celtic since August until he was selected for the FC Salzburg Europa League tie on Thursday and was so far out of the door on a loan move to Hibernian he was almost at Linlithgow.

The Celtic management, however, decided to keep him and the 24-year-old's energetic display against the Austrians raises two issues.

The first is the Stefan Scepovic conundrum. The 24-year-old Serb remained on the bench as Celtic searched for a goal against Salzburg. The £2.2m striker was thus not considered good enough to start or to be a viable option for an equaliser.

The second is that Griffiths has obvious merits that have now been complemented by his recognition that he must change to prosper at Celtic.

In the wake of his exertions against Salzburg, Griffiths was invited to ponder the task lying in wait at Tynecastle on Sunday when Celtic take on Hearts in the Scottish Cup.

"Hopefully, I'll be in contention," said Griffiths. "I've been working hard in training and champing at the bit to try to get a start. Thursday was my first start since mid-August so, hopefully, there will be a lot more to come but John Guidetti has come in and scored a lot of goals."

He has been impressed with the Swede, saying: "John is someone I'd like to play alongside. You don't spend that amount of time with Manchester City if you're not a good player. We're trying to tie him down to a permanent contract and if we can do that it would be great for the club."

Guidetti's presence, though, has an effect on Griffiths' chances of starting against Hearts. The Swede, on loan from Manchester City, has scored six goals for Celtic and will take the central striking role. The best hope for Griffiths is to be second striker if Ronny Deila opts for 4-4-2 or to play on the left in a 4-3-3.

However, this is more positive speculation than the reports of a loan to Hibernian earlier in the season that suggested his future at Celtic was limited.

Griffiths brushed off this line of questioning, saying: " I've got a job to do here. I want to be here and, until somebody tells me otherwise, I'll be travelling in every day. I love being at this club and there's nowhere I would rather be."

His affection for Hibs remains, however, and he is desperate to play at Tynecastle.

"Hearts are flying and they'll go into it full of confidence after beating Rangers but we've already put them out of one cup this season and we'll be looking to do that again," said Griffiths in reference to the League Cup victory at Parkhead in September. "I've scored the last two times I've played at Tynecastle and I'm hoping to make it three in a row."

Griffiths will be the focus of the attention of the Hearts fans but he is comfortable with that.

"I'll be getting stick but I don't think I'll be the only one. Broonie will be getting it and Craig Gordon might get some as well but that's part and parcel of football. As a Hibs fan, I'm going to get stick but the only way for me to silence the Hearts fans is by scoring and playing well. Tynecastle is intimidating and the place will be rocking."

Hearts, too, are in excellent form with a 2-0 victory over Rangers stretching their lead in the Championship to nine points

"Hearts will make it very difficult for us, just as they did at Celtic Park earlier in the season," he said.

Griffiths said Hearts "bossed" the game against Rangers, adding: "They'll be looking to try to do that again against the other half of the Old Firm. But this is the type of game you want to play in - a cup tie, a full house, plenty of noise, plenty of passion, lots of tackles."