Scotland attacker Leigh Griffiths still watches reruns of his famous free kick double against England and aims to take inspiration to help save World Cup qualifying hopes with victory against Lithuania tomorrow.
Gordon Strachan’s men need victories from the remaining four Group F fixtures to maintain hope of reaching next summer’s finals in Russia through the play-offs, having fallen four points behind second-placed Slovakia.
Celtic attacker Griffiths netted his first international goals with two stunning free kicks against England in June within the space of three minutes which put Scotland on course for victory before Spurs forward Harry Kane level-led in added time to snatch a 2-2 draw.
Griffiths has spent the summer reminiscing about his goals, but knows they will count for nothing unless he can help Scotland win in Vilnius tomorrow. He said: “I couldn’t say how many times I have watched them back, whenever I’m in a bad mood, coming home from training or after a game or whatever, I’ll put that on and it’ll make me smile. It means a lot to me but it wasn’t just that, it was the magnitude of the game. To score two goals against anybody for my country would be good but to do it against England was magic. It’s something I will never forget.
“Regardless of what club people support, any Scotland supporter is going to be happy for me scoring for my country, regardless if it’s Celtic, Hibs, Hearts, Rangers, Motherwell or Kilmarnock. It doesn’t matter.
“They are always complimentary about how I played in that game and how those free kicks went in.
“The England game was a high, but it is a new game now.
“I need to look forward and try to work my way into the side for the Lithuania game.
“If the manager decides to go down a different route I will be on the bench ready to come on and try to give him a lift.”
Scotland made a slow start to the group campaign, with a 1-1 draw against Lithuania at Hampden and a 3-0 defeat in Slovakia in the opening three games.
Strachan’s men have shown signs of improvement in recent matches, however, with the draw against England coming after a 1-0 home victory against Slovenia in March, and Griffiths hopes momentum is on their side.
The 27-year-old added: “We have not done ourselves justice over a few games in this campaign.
“Looking back at some of the games we have drawn or lost and there were chances to take the lead.
“I remember the Slovakia game and their first goal came from a foul on Steven Fletcher when he was pushed in the back, the referee played on and 15 seconds later they made it 1-0. But we are always confident going into games – especially the last two games when we got four points. It should have been six, but hopefully Friday night we can get the job done.”
