WITH a handful of goals and assists between them, Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths have enjoyed success up front in 2020 so far. Their combined contribution has naturally impressed Neil Lennon, but so too has the intelligence of the blossoming partnership.

“I think the understanding between Leigh and Odsonne has been very good,” said the manager ahead of Saturday's league encounter with Ross County at Paradise. “They’re intelligent players, they both bona fide centre-forwards, and they both know how to play their position. The more they play together, I suppose, the more understanding they’ll get.

“With formations in mind, you look at your personnel, you look at who’s fit, you look at your best players and think: what way can we exploit the opposition with who we have available? I’m quite happy to be flexible.”

With flexibility in mind, Neil Lennon said he’s prefers not to be bound to any one formation or playstyle when adapting to opposition.

He added: “Leigh’s in a good place at the minute and he’s enjoying his football. He’s a natural goalscorer, and that’s the hardest thing to do. We all have our critics, and the best thing to do is go out there and play well, play well for the team, score goals. You don’t need to bite back, you can keep it in-house and be proud of yourself.

“His fitness is getting better, he had a really good trip in Dubai, he’s been training well here at home as well and he scored in both the games as well. It’s great to see him back scoring goals and enjoying his football again. In terms of Patryck coming in, if Griff’s been given a lift by that, then that’s good news for me.”

Manager: Intelligent striking pairing has been a joy to watch