LEIGH Griffiths last night praised strike partner Moussa Dembele for his unselfishness in teeing him up for the winning goal in Celtic's narrow 1-0 triumph over Hamilton.
And the striker insisted the Ladbrokes Premiership match at Parkhead was further evidence that he and Dembele can play up front in the same side together.
Dembele, the French forward who was signed from Fulham in the summer, has often been preferred to Griffiths in attack by Brendan Rodgers during the 2016/17 campaign.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Celtic players' mental strength has helped me become a Parkhead record breaker
The 20-year-old has scored no fewer than 17 goals in all competitions and has been linked with multi-million moves to some of Europe's leading clubs as a result.
But Griffiths, who took his own tally for the season to 11 with his effort last night, enjoys playing alongside him and is hopeful it will happen more in the future.
He said: "The manager has decided to change it up tonight and we tried to link up as best we could. I can't thank the big man highly enough for his very unselfish act when we were running through on goal.
"I almost missed it, to be fair, but I am glad I tucked it away. Would I have passed if I was in the same situation? I did it earlier this season at Hampden (in the Betfred Cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden in October).
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Celtic players' mental strength has helped me become a Parkhead record breaker
"I was actually speaking to Broony (Celtic captain Scott Brown) at the hotel and I told him I thought one of us would run through on goal and the other one would square it.
"Thankfully the big man has put it on a plate for me and I have tucked it away.
"I think the gaffer likes to mix it up a bit. But it's not always going to be the two of us up front and one of us is going to have to miss out at times. But if he can play both of us together then I am sure we would both be delighted."
Griffiths netted in the 4-1 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill on Friday night and was delighted to get his name on the scoresheet once again.
"That's two 90 minutes I've played in a row now and I feel good," he said. "I feel 100 per cent fit and I just want to play as many minutes as I possibly can. If I keep doing that then hopefully my goals tally will keep going up and up."
The 26-year-old, though, is hopeful that Celtic can produce far better performances in the future than they did against Hamilton - starting in their Ladbrokes Premiership meeting with Dundee on Saturday.
He said: "Did I enjoy that? No, not really, but it's always good to get another win and the three points in the bag. It was good to get a clean sheet too. We just keep getting results and that's the most important thing at this time of the season.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Celtic players' mental strength has helped me become a Parkhead record breaker
"Hamilton are a team that will try and frustrate you. They have come here to Parkhead on a number of occasions and made it difficult for us and taken points off us - home and away - in the last couple of seasons.
"So we always knew we were going to be in for a tough game and I am just glad that we got all three points. It was the ugly side of how we play at times. It was not pretty.
"But I think the fans realise that at this time of the season there's so many games and three points is the most important thing."
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