Ruairi Daly 
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Leigh Griffiths has sent a spirited message to Brendan Rodgers ahead of this Saturday’s Glasgow Derby.
The Scottish international has seen his usual starting place in the team go to French under-21 forward Moussa Dembele, however he has scored four in his last six starts, and is hopeful of playing a part this weekend.
Speaking to the Glasgow Evening Times, the 25-year-old said:
Hopefully I can be involved. It has been a bit stop start with one thing and another but we’ll just have to wait and see what the manager goes with.
I am hungry. I have not lost any self-belief. I always fancy myself to score if I am playing. It would be nice to round off this year by getting a goal at Ibrox but I think we all know that the main thing is that we get all three points. It would be a great way to finish the year and that is what we are looking to do.
I have never scored a goal at Ibrox so it seems like a nice time to go and do it. Obviously I just want to be involved so we’ll see what happens.
Our aim at the start of the month was to get through December unbeaten and take maximum points from all eight games. This is the final one now so it would be a nice way for us to sign off.
The game will take place on Hogmanay at Ibrox, Celtic’s first visit to the stadium in over four years.
Griffiths and Dembele have combined for 31 goals this season, and have rarely started as a pair up front in the green and white Hoops jersey.
Last night it was Griffiths who led the line and was replaced by Dembele, but it was Erik Sviatchenko and Stuart Armstrong who stole the headlines with two impressive goals against Ross County.
The win moved Celtic 16 points clear of second place with a game in hand, and could make another statement this Saturday against their Glasgow counterparts.
Kick-off for Celtic’s final game of 2016 is at 12:15pm.
