MARK McGhee has admitted Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths is better placed to lead the line for Scotland at the moment than at any stage previously in his professional career.
However, the national team’s assistant manager has given a strong indication that Steven Fletcher may be preferred for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Georgia in Tbilisi on Friday night.
Griffiths has scored no fewer than eight goals for the Scottish champions in just 12 competitive outings so far during the 2015/16 campaign.
That is in stark contrast to Fletcher who has only hit the target once for bottom-placed English Premier League club Sunderland all term.
Gordon Strachan has a huge call to make this week about who to play in attack in the vital Group D outing against Kakhaber Tskhadadze’s side.
McGhee, himself a former Scotland striker, admitted Griffiths, who last started an international against Belgium nearly two years ago, is pushing strongly for selection.
“I have seen a marked improvement in Leigh and his runs,” he said. “I’ve spoken to him about the source of it and he’s told me it’s what he’s been asked to do by the Celtic coaches.
“It has resulted in him becoming a better player. He has moved up a notch in terms of possible starters. I think he has to be realistically considered.
“Fletcher is a great finisher. As is (Matt) Ritchie. But probably no-one hits the ball as hard as Leigh. He cements it.
"He is one of the boys confident in getting shots in. He had five or six shots in the game I saw against Partick Thistle before anyone else even thought about it. In a run of confidence, I can imagine him being really prolific.”
McGhee, though, hinted that Strachan may opt for Fletcher, the more experienced man with 20 caps to his name, to operate as his lone striker in the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena despite his unconvincing form for his club.
“He’ll consider his strengths,” he said. “There are certain assets we might require away from home that we might not require at home or that Celtic might require every week.
"I remember going way back to Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) buying a striker and it was either (Andy) Cole or (Stan) Collymore.
“He said he was going to buy Cole because Man United were a team that played in the opposition box. They didn’t counter attack. If they were a counter attacking team they would have bought Collymore.
“Maybe Fletcher and Leigh Griffiths are the Cole and Collymore. Gordon and the staff will have to decide which strengths we need for the game in Georgia.”
Meanwhile, McGhee, the former SV Hamburg player, has revealed there is unhappiness in Germany with how the World Cup winners are performing ahead of their double header with Poland and Scotland.
Joachim Loew’s side take on the Group D leaders in Frankfurt on Friday in a game which will have huge repercussions on our chances of progressing to the finals in France next year.
"I talked to people in Germany this week and the feeling is that Germany are not in good condition,” said McGhee. “There is a feeling the players they are relying on are not in good form. They have picked the same squad. They are worried Poland could get them.
"I don’t know where that would leave us if Poland beat Germany. We maybe have to beat Germany. I don’t know what the best result for us would be.
"All we can affect is winning our game. If we win on Friday, regardless of the result in Germany, it will still come down to the game against Poland. It would probably come down to us beating Poland.”
McGhee added: "To qualify from the top two the Georgia game could be a must-win,” he said. “But I'm not sure. I can sit and illustrate different permutations, all of which are believable, including Germany drawing with Poland, Germany beating Poland or Poland beating Germany.
"We can perm any results from it and there are different ways we can qualify. The thing that remains the same is that we have a game on Friday against Georgia, and we give ourselves a better chance of qualifying if we beat them.
"But we should be under no illusions it's going to be a really difficult game, and if we do get the win it will be a fantastic result, regardless of any pot they may have slipped into.
"I think they’re in a little bit of a false position - they're far from an Andorra or something like that. We are going to have to be at our absolute best to win the game. If we do win it, we can be very pleased with ourselves.”
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