Neil Lennon urges Leigh Griffiths to repay Celtic’s patience

Neil Lennon has told Leigh Griffiths it is payback time after confirming the striker has now completed his return to first-team duties.The 28-year-old has not featured since December due to a combination of injury and personal issues.But having taken time away from the club to deal with his off-field problems, he is now back among Lennons squad preparing for the new season.And Hoops boss Lennon is delighted with what he has seen so far this week at their Lennoxtown base.However, the Northern Irishman has told the Scotland hitman it is now time he repaid the club for the backing he has been given over the last few months.Lennon said: Hes doing very, very well. Hes worked very hard and has had a good week. Hes done all the training, double sessions, so were very pleased. Hes been training constantly for the last two or three months working on his conditioning, so weve got no problem putting him in (to the team).Its great for us. Weve got a proven goalscorer at club and international level that weve missed for a significant period of time.Hes missed it as well and he is in a good place at the minute.Its a credit to him that hes worked really hard away from the limelight and knuckled down.Its payback time for him because the club has been very good for him. He knows that and he knows what hes got with me.Should we consider him now to have fully rejoined the first-team? Yes. Hes still got a bit to do in terms of his conditioning, as they all do, but really pleased with what Im seeing so far.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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