Michael Stewart suggests that Celtic star Leigh Griffiths is a better striker than Derby County-owned Fulham man Chris Martin.
Former Manchester United and Scotland international midfielder Michael Stewart has suggested in The Scottish Sun that Celtic star Leigh Griffiths is a better striker than Derby County-owned Fulham man Chris Martin.
Stewart, who also played for Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian, believes that Celtic striker Griffiths should be in the Scotland starting lineup ahead of Martin.
The 35-year-old made the comment following Gordon Strachan’s side’s failure to win against Lithuania at the weekend.
Scotland played out a 1-1 draw with Lithuania at Hampden Park in Glasgow in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group F game on Saturday evening.
Martin, who is 27 years of age and joined Fulham on a season-long loan deal from Championship rivals Derby in the summer transfer window, started the match and played for the entire 90 minutes.
Griffiths also featured for Scotland against Lithuania, but the 26-year-old Celtic striker came on as a substitute in the 71st minute.
Stewart believes that Griffiths should be Scotland’s main striker and has written in The Scottish Sun: “The Scotland manager’s decision to bench the Celtic forward against Lithuania in favour of Chris Martin defied all logic.
“Griffiths scored 40 goals last season. He’s got eight in 12 games at the start of this campaign.
“He’s flying and there is no doubt in my mind he should have been handed that No9 jersey at Hampden on Saturday.”
“Martin toiled all night and looked like a striker who has scored just ONE goal since April,” added Stewart. “He wrestled with the Lithuanian defenders but we needed much more from him.
“The Fulham man will never score goals like Griffiths but if his hold-up play was excellent, then you could maybe understand Strachan’s thinking. But it’s not. In fact, the Celtic man is more of an all-round striker than Martin.”
Over the course of the 90 minutes at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Saturday evening, hosts Scotland had 62% of the possession, took 19 shots of which three were on target, and earned nine corners, according to BBC Sport.
Gordon Strachan’s side are second in Group F with four points from two matches, two points behind leaders England.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
