LEIGH Griffiths is set to land in hot water with the Scottish Football Association after claiming that referee Craig Thomson would have sent off any Celtic player guilty of the kind of infringement that saw Andrew Considine hand the Parkhead side a first-half penalty at Pittodrie.

Celtic took the lead when Griffiths converted from the spot, but second-half goals from Adam Rooney and Paul Quinn enabled Aberdeen to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season and move two points clear at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a game in hand.

Griffiths, though, was irked that Considine escaped with only a booking after pulling him back in the area on 35 minutes. Aberdeen were reduced to 10 men in the latter stages of the game when Jonny Hayes was ordered off for a challenge on Mikael Lustig, but Griffiths felt they should have been forced to play with 10 men for the bulk of the encounter.

Asked if he was surprised that Considine was not dismissed, the Scotland striker said: “Very. I was going to score. I was about to whip it around the goalie. I was three or four yards away from goal, so he’s got to be sent off.

“If it’s up the other end, I’m positive, I’d put my mortgage on it, that Craig, the referee, sends one of our players off.

“What makes me say that? It’s what happens. If it’s up the other end, the Aberdeen players would have surrounded him and you can guarantee he sends him off. That’s 100 per cent.

“The ref said I was going away from goal, but, to me, I’m going to whip it round and put it to the goalie’s left-hand side. Look, it’s one of those things. We’ve been beaten and we need to look forward, but he grabbed hold of my shirt, I came back inside him and he birled me around.”