NEIL Lennon is hoping to have Leigh Griffiths fit and firing in time for Celtic’s Champions League qualifiers, and he could feature in the club’s pre-season friendlies next week in Austria.

Griffiths is back in training after a spell awat from the club to deal with personal issues, and Lennon is pleased by what he has seen from the striker in training.

“I’m delighted with him, really pleased – it’s like having a new signing,” Lennon said. “He still has a bit to go in terms of his conditioning but so do the others.

“But he’s been working really hard behind the scenes and away from the limelight and I think that’s been good for him when it comes to taking stock of things and just getting his house in order.

“He owes the club something now because they’ve been very good to him. They’ve been supportive and given him all the compassion he’s needed.

“Now it’s time for him to get back to doing what he’s best at, which is playing and scoring goals.

“Will the Champions League qualifiers come too early for him? Not at all; we want to get him playing next week if we can, let him have some game time and then we’ll assess the situation from there.

“There was never a chance of him being involved in the Scottish Cup final because he hadn’t had any football for five months so it would’ve been folly to pitch him into the squad after a week’s training.

“It would have been almost impossible for him to do well and he could have injured himself as well.

“Now, though, he’s done lots of conditioning work and he’s had a good week, with double sessions. He’s re-integrated with the squad and I’m pleased for him.”