LEIGH GRIFFITHS will follow the well-worn path to Firhill to face Partick Thistle tonight.

But after the safe negotiation of his Road to Damascus, there is no reason why the little hitman should strike out on this cross-city journey with any trepidation.

Griffiths has already made great strides to get out of the shadows at Parkhead and into Ronny Deila's good books.

It has been a bumpy and twisting road, with a few blind summits and hazardous bends.

Indeed, a few months ago, he appeared to be heading only one way - towards the exit door at Celtic.

The direction signposts indicated Griffiths was retracing his steps to Easter Road, where a place in the Hibs side being rebuilt by Alan Stubbs beckoned.

However, a U-turn in his attitude and, consequently, fortunes, has seen Griffiths make huge inroads into Deila's plans, and he has taken the opportunity to replace out-of-form John Guidetti as the No.1 striker.

Since he was handed a starting role in the 2-0 win over Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park on January 17, Griffiths has hit three goals in five games - including vital cup strikes against Rangers and Dundee in consecutive weeks.

It is a massive transformation in the goals-to-games ratio he had previously been delivering, but one which Griffiths accepts he must maintain if he is to hold off the challenge from Guidetti to regain his role in leading the line.

"I came here to score goals," he insisted with the unmistakable confidence of a man who is doing exactly that. I can only do that if I am chosen to play. And, if I'm chosen to play, I give 110 per cent every time.

"I work hard, and, thankfully, I am getting a run in the team now and it's paying off with goals."

Griffiths could still be accommodated in the wider, deeper position he previously occupied under Deila, but it is as the man in the middle that he is happiest.

Having shown Deila he is willing to make the attitude and approach changes required to find the level of fitness that allows him to fulfil the role of perpetually-moving point of the attack, he is not about to drop back, either positionally or into old habits.

Kris Commons has joined Griffiths in accepting that it is Deila's way or the sub way.

The quick link-up play between both reformees was a feature of the performance which has helped the Hoops cut through opposition defences in recent weeks as they have constructed a winning run which stretches back six games.

Deila expects other players still trying to unlock the door to the starting eleven to look and learn from the example this pair have set.

But while Griffiths is delighted to be reaping the rewards for his hard work, he is streetwise enough to recognise it can't simply be considered a quick fix ... it's got to be a lifestyle.

However, he baulks at the suggestion that, from a bit-part player in his first year at the club, he is suddenly occupying a starring role, and his message is clear: This is a team effort, and he is happy just to be contributing to it.

Griffiths said: "The manager wants us to play at a high tempo. We're doing that from the front. If we do that, it gives the whole team a lift."

It's a confidence which is permeating from front to back, and to front again, reflected in the high number of chances being created, and the few scoring opportunities being offered up to opponents.

"We haven't conceded a goal since before Christmas, which is quite extraordinary," said Griffiths, happy to have played his part in that achievement by continuously harrying defenders to win back possession, or at least prevent them playing good balls forward.

"We want to keep that going for as long as we can. Jason [Denayer] and Virgil [van Dijk] have been in great form, and with Craig [Gordon] in goal, we always have a chance of keeping a clean sheet because he is a great, international keeper.

"But it is also about pressure from the front. Me, Stefan [Scepovic], or whoever else is playing up there, we press, and that gives us a great chance of keeping clean sheets."

On the current form of the two sides, Thistle will be hard pushed to put a spoke in the free-wheeling green machine tonight.

They have already been on the wrong end of a 6-0 thumping from Celtic this season - the League Cup tie at Parkhead which saw Griffiths come off the bench to score a double after Guidetti had grabbed a hat-trick.

Alan Archibald's side fared much better when they returned to Celtic Park on league business at the start of December, going down 1-0.

But they might have reason to rue they could not stage the Glasgow derby on January 1 due to a waterlogged pitch because the Hoops had just lost to Dundee United and been held to a goalless draw by Ross County.

Contrast that with their blistering current form, which has shot them into the final of the League Cup, the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup and back to the top of the Premiership, with the Treble coming into sharper focus by the week.

Griffiths wants to play his part in converting chances into goals, and promise into trophies, but he needs no reminding that, as yet, nothing has been won, and that it is going to take more of what they have been serving up to give them their just desserts.

The win at Dundee was the template for what they need to continue to do, and Griffiths reflected: "We started at a great tempo, and it was good to get an early goal, like we did the previous weekend against Rangers. That calmed us down a bit."

As at Hampden, he was the head Bhoy, using his now-well-covered cranium to nod the Hoops ahead.

"I don't think I have scored so many headers in one season," he smiled as he considered the fringe benefits of his new thatch. "But I want to keep it going. I want to continue this form."