Leigh Griffiths will give the next Scotland boss a massive boost by declaring himself fit for June’s Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The talismanic Celtic striker has been out for more than four months after being given time off to deal with personal issues.
But Neil Lennon insists the crucial clashes with Cyprus and Belgium are right in the striker’s line of sight.
And the Hoops manager wants him to play to get his frontman flying before they get back into
pre-season a week later.
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Griffiths has scored four goals in his last seven caps and Lennon said: “I think he’ll be fit for the qualifiers. It would do him good.
“It would be nice for Scotland and it would be nice for me to have a quality striker added to the one I’ve got. He won’t be a million miles away, put it that way.
“And he could do that and come right back into pre-season with us – why not? The qualifier is June 11 and we are back on June 17 so there is no reason why he can’t go and play for Scotland and then come back into training with us.
“He has missed a lot of football and it is not through a bad injury or anything like that. He needs to catch up.”
Despite his recent issues not being physical ones, Lennon insists Griffiths has work to do on that front to get him back up to speed.
He said: “He is in training twice a day on his own at the minute. He still has to be integrated into the group so he is a week or two away from that.
“It is a slow, meticulous routine of conditioning so he doesn’t break down again. That kept happening because he wasn’t in the right condition. He has to get himself in there.
“He’s 28, he’s at his peak and still has plenty to offer. That’s down to him.
“It looks like he wants it so it is up to him to do the hard yards now.
“He has to make sure through his own professionalism that it doesn’t slip away again.”
