Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Leigh Griffiths’ decision to withdraw from the Scotland squad to work on his fitness and stressed that the striker “has no business” playing unless he is fit.
The Celtic forward controversially pulled out of Alex McLeish’s squad for the recent double-header against Israel and Portugal.
Ahead of the Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Hibernian at Parkhead on Saturday, Rodgers said: “For me it was the right decision to make, purely on the basis of, if you want to be involved in the top level of sport and play internationally and for a top club, unless you are physically fit you have no business being on the pitch to play.
“That is very important, otherwise you don’t do yourself justice or your team-mates and your support.
“Our supporters live their life for this club, the very least they expect from players going on to the field is that they are fit.
“Leigh was brave enough to at least think that he wasn’t at the right level to help his country and very importantly help Celtic.
“Unfortunately he has been ill and we will have to see if he is available for Saturday but the message he sent was he wanted to ensure, like we have always said to the players, that you have to be physically right.
“You get paid a lot of money here. Sometimes you play, sometimes you won’t.
“At the very least it is required as a player at the very highest level is that you are physically right.”
The former Hibs striker missed Celtic’s Champions League qualifiers in July with a thigh injury and has been troubled by calf problems in recent years.
Asked if injuries had hampered Griffiths’ fitness aims, Rodgers said: “I think at times he has been unfortunate, when he has been injured.
“But I think there has probably been other things around that when he hasn’t quite been at the level. But that is not for public discussion, that’s for him to work with behind the scenes here.
“He is a good guy who understands where he needs to be at. It is something that is ongoing. We have a top-level sports science team who regulate and monitor in terms of fitness.
“We hope that we can help everyone with that but that is something you need to want to do yourself.”
Rodgers believes Griffiths is still keen to play for Scotland.
“I don’t think it was a case of him not wanting to play for Scotland,” he said. “He is a very passionate young man, he wants to play for Celtic and wants to play for Scotland and I think we would all agree that when he is at that level then he is a very valuable player for both.”
The former Liverpool boss looked forward to the visit of Hibs, who are two points behind leaders Hearts and one above Celtic in the league.
“It should be a fantastic game,” he said. “I have been very impressed with Hibs. They are an offensive team so I think it should be a very good football game.
“They never sit in and defend deep, they are aggressive in the game, they want to score goals, so it should make for a fantastic game.”
Scott Brown is available again after recovering from a hamstring injury and Rodgers stated his captain was still in “initial discussions” over a new contract after opening talks several weeks ago
Rodgers said: “He is very happy and content. It is very relaxed. He has a good relationship with the club, he has been here a long time and he knows the importance he has here at Celtic.”
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