Hoops captain Scott Brown has insisted that if Leigh Griffiths had been a foreign striker in Scotland, European clubs would have fallen over themselves to sign the player for big money.

Griffiths moved within just four goals of hitting the century mark for Celtic with his winner against Partick Thistle on Wednesday night at Firhill.

And Brown believes that Griffiths has proved himself time and time again at Celtic.

“He does it all the time,” said Brown. “If Griff had been a foreign player banging in the goals the way he has here, especially that season when he hit 40 and was scoring for fun, clubs down south and across Europe would have been throwing big money at him.

“The fact he is Scottish makes people look down their nose a bit but there is no doubt to us how valuable he is. He is an outstanding striker who has done it consistently and not just in the league, whatever you think of it, but in the big games too. We are just delighted he is here because he is a fantastic striker.

“Look at the goals against Joe Hart at Hampden. Look at his performances in the Champions League and in the Champions League qualifiers when you are really under pressure to get the results.

“He is an outstanding striker who has proved himself over and over again.

“He has worked hard and I think we have seen that he has taken his game to another level. It is now not just all about the goals – and you’d always fancy him to score – but it is also about he plays that lone striker role. He has matured as player and I think no-one could fault his goals record.

“When you look at it, his record is pretty sensational really and he has done that in his career wherever he has been."

Griffiths has been in and out of the team with injury issues while there has also been a squad rotation system in place as Odsonne Edouard and Moussa Dembele have also been charged with leading the line.

Dembele’s situation has become more complex this month with Brendan Rodgers omitting the player from the starting line-up amid concerns that his focus has been affected by the transfer window.

Whether the French under-21 internationalist remains at the club beyond next week’s deadline remains to be seen but for now Brown has insisted that it is business as usual at Celtic.

“All that stuff, who comes and who goes, is up to the manager,” said the midfielder. “We are just here to concentrate on our job and make sure that we are winning games.

“There is competition for places here regardless of who is coming in or who is going. That has been the case for the ten years that I have been at the club and it is nothing new to anyone.

“You expect that here. But as players it is only ever about thing at Celtic and that is winning games.”