WHEN Leigh Griffiths found the net against Lithuanian outfit FK Suduva last year, he became the 29th Celt to score 100 competitive goals for the club. The first player to do so since John Hartson in 2005, the striker went on to bag a further four goals before taking some time away from the game in order to focus on his mental health.

By his own admission, he’s now in a much better place and is delighted to be back doing what he does best – both on the training pitch and on matchdays.

The forward marked his first competitive start of the season with wonderful 20-yard free-kick goal as the Hoops brushed aside Nomme Kalju 5-0 in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League second qualifying round tie.

Leigh speaks in this week’s Celtic View about his return to football, his outlook moving forward, and the importance of promoting mental health discourse in football.

The league campaign is upon us, and you’re as raring to go as ever…

Every game is going to be a big game, especially with me coming back. Flag Day is always special, and then we’ve got difficult fixtures after that with Motherwell away, Hearts at home and then the Glasgow derby not long after that. That’ll be a big one with big expectations, and that’s a lot of big games right at the start of the season. We hope to qualify for the Champions League group-stages, too.

Does the manager’s style of football suit you better as a player who plays off the shoulder of the last defender?

The boys will tell you that my main strength is playing off the last defender, and trying to get involved that way. I still need to work on my link-up play a little bit, that could be better, but if you look at my game over the last few years, that’s where I’ve got most of my goals. The manager has touched upon it, and I’m hoping to score a few more this way over the coming weeks and months.

The manager also touched upon the possibility of playing two up top, should any given game call for it. Could you see yourself forming a partnership with Odsonne Edouard?

I’d like to think so. The big man has come to Celtic and been phenomenal. For a guy so young as well, that’s a great achievement and he’s only going to get better. We’ll work on our link-up play at training, and if we can do that well, I think we could scare a few teams!

To take time away from football showed remarkable courage, but mental health issues are still not spoken about very often in football. Why do you think this is?

I don’t really know. I think men and women in sport, whoever it is, feel that can’t open up because they’ll get embarrassed. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get to say my piece straight away. But, as it’s latterly came on, that’s why I took my time off. Anybody who is suffering from mental health issues should try to speak to someone or open up. You see the number of people now who aren’t speaking up and are taking their own lives, and that’s a real shame. I’m glad I ended up speaking out, and I’m glad I took the time off that I did. It’s been a bit of a struggle to get back, but it’s a road that I’ve gladly taken.

Your Instagram feed has spoken recently about discovering the light at the end of the tunnel. You seem in a great place at the moment and raring to go.

It was actually my girlfriend who first posted the quote. I told her that morning that I’d posted it myself, and she had a little cry. But I think she had a bigger cry against Sarajevo when I came back on the pitch! She’s stuck with me through a lot, and every morning she was the one getting up with me and finding out if I was okay – along with close friends, family members, team-mates, the manager, the previous manager, and a lot of people that were asking about me. Hopefully I can repay the club for sticking by me through the whole lot.

For the full interview with Leigh Griffiths, see this week’s Celtic View, out now.

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Leigh Griffiths looking to the future in this week’s Celtic View