Celtic have announced that striker Leigh Griffiths has returned to Lennoxtown to work on his fitness with a view to returning to first-team training in the future.
In a statement on the club’s official website, the Hoops confirmed that the ultimate aim of both parties is for the forward to get back to playing for Neil Lennon’s side.
The club have stressed it still may take some time for him to be fully integrated back into the first-team squad.
Griffiths last played at the start of December before taking an extended break from the game to sort out personal problems.
Lennon is rightly delighted by the development, telling the website:
We are really pleased that Leigh will be looking to get things going again at Lennoxtown and be making a phased return to training. In no way will we put any timescale on a possible return to the first-team.
Instead, we will make sure we work with him on the best, most productive way forward.
He will really be focusing on his own programme at the moment and then we will see what progress we make from there. We will not rush him in any way and we will allow him, of course, to take things slowly and at the pace he is comfortable with.
As the club has been doing throughout the last period, we’ll continue to give Leigh every support to make sure that his health and well-being are our number one priority.
Scoring 104 goals in 202 games for the club so far in his career, Griffiths has proven to be one of the most consistent strikers at the club over the last half decade, becoming the first player since John Hartson to break the 100 career goal barrier in the Hoops.
While obviously his return cannot be rushed, fans will be eager to see him return to playing contention given his ability to find the back of the net.
Hopefully his transition from fitness to full training goes smoothly and we see him back in green and white sooner rather than later.