ARE Celtic on cruise control from now until May 27?

You'd certainly not blame them. With the Betfred Cup secured, a Premiership title won and a Scottish Cup final lined up, the goal for Brendan Rodgers and his players now is surely just get to that showpiece against Aberdeen fit and with your unbeaten run intact.

To falter at this point and lose their first domestic game of the season would be a bitter pill to swallow for Celtic, and as such the Parkhead side will surely be concentrating on seeing games out.

Well, everybody except one man, perhaps. In terms of Leigh Griffiths, the script is quite different.

Starting with today's Old Firm game at Ibrox, Celtic have five games between now and that Scottish Cup final. For Griffiths, though, every single one of them is a cup final.

Just when you thought he was perhaps drifting once more away from this Celtic ship, a lifeline in the form of an injured Moussa Dembele has offered the striker a chance of survival he must take.

That point was evident in last weekend's Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers. When Dembele went off, Griffiths led the line superbly as he desperately tried to get the goal to announce he was up for the fight and up to the task. He was unlucky not to get it.

"When he's on the pitch for a length of time it always looks like he's going to score," said Rodgers. "He's a real threat. From 25 metres in he's top class."

To think the 26-year-old has been a bit-part player to this extent would have been unthinkable this time last season. An astonishing 40 goals in the previous campaign thrust Griffiths forward as one of the deadliest finishers in the country. So much so a contract extension was eventually penned last term tying him to the club until 2021.

Of course, the arrival of Dembele from Fulham played a huge contributing factor in the former Hibs striker being put in the shade. As did the Frenchman's high-profile goals against the likes of Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach, only furthering the opinion that this European pedigree meant he was the go-to guy as Celtic strove for continental betterment.

There is more than a bit of sympathy for Griffiths as his 36 appearances - both starts and from the bench - have only yielded 14 goals compared to the 32 of his strike partner.

Now, Griffiths has his chance to show what Rodgers has been missing out on.

Scoring this afternoon against Rangers would be a significant step for the likeable Scot. There are also passionate matches still to come against the likes of Aberdeen and Hearts to get his teeth stuck into.

There may still be four years left on his deal, but this is a key period for Griffiths. At 26-years-old he is in his prime, and will he be content to continue to play second fiddle to Dembele? Especially with the prospect of a Scotland v England game on the horizon in June, going into that in form could be the difference between playing or warming that Hampden bench again.

The other factor is reminding Rodgers of what he can do, even if Dembele is eventually tempted away this summer. It's up to the man already there to prove there is a ready made replacement already in his arsenal.

Under Ronny Deila Griffiths salvaged his Celtic career, going from the lost Bhoy to a Hoops hero. It is an act he'd do well to repeat now.