Scotland v Poland: Like Robert Lewandowski, Leigh Griffiths rarely misses

Life is all about second chances. And taking them when they present themselves.

Leigh Griffiths, a lively character with a ravenous appetite for scoring goals in a Celtic shirt, has hardly been profligate in realising that the road to paradise does not lie in misbehaving away from the public glare.

Representing Celtic is more a vocation in life than shift work, but Griffiths seemed blissfully unaware of what he had signed up for when he touched down at the Scottish champions from Wolverhampton Wanderers for around £1m at the outset of 2014.

Griffiths is a forward whose most notable movement in his early months at Celtic was characterised by hopping on a chair in a Edinburgh boozer to proclaim that a fellow professional was a "f*****g refugee".

The former Hibernian player and fan was caught on a video that went public via a tabloid newspaper singing the racist chant about the Czech player Rudi Skácel, a Heart of Midlothian forward of some renown, prior to an Edinburgh derby between the two clubs.

Sung to the tune of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, it was utterly dismal conduct that could easily have seen him sunk and sacked for bringing the Glasgow club, famously founded by an Irish priest for poor Irish immigrants, into disrepute.

Celtic opted against exporting Griffiths to the fires of damnation in fining him four weeks wages. The Roseburn Bar will never again witness such a costly chant. It must be said, whether they were right or wrong to go easy on their employee, Celtic have reaped heavy rewards for opting against perdition.

A court admonished Griffiths for his behaviour last month before he was fined £2,500 by the Scottish Football Association last week and given a two-match suspended sentence. Yet Griffiths is a figure rejuvenated and relocated in the 18 months since his barmy trip to the Roseburn.

In every sense of the word, he is fortunate to still have a career at the elite level. Yet it is difficult not to be impressed by his maturity since his impromptu karaoke number.

The standard of the Scottish Premiership is continually derided in comparison to its big wealthier brother of the Premier League across the border, but Griffiths is rapidly turning into the level of forward Scotland craves. And have sought for many years.

At the age of 25, he is scoring goals for fun with 10 in 18 matches this season, and is a rapidly improving, lithe striker, with a voracious appetite for hard work, and the odd tea cake, who revels in goals.

Griffiths has shed a little bit of weight, and projects a genuine level of class, especially in the air, that should not be underestimated in Scotland, Europe or international climes.

The great Swedish forward Henrik Larsson scored 20 goals In his first 50 starts for Celtic. Gary Hooper, a striker Norwich City paid £5.5m to recruit, managed 28 for the Glasgow club in his first half century of matches. Griffiths has scored 39 in the same time, including notable efforts against Malmo and Fenerbahce this season.

It took years for many commentators across Europe to catch on that Larsson could pierce any level of defence, not just at outposts like Hamilton, a quaint little spot where Griffiths found his eighth league goal on Sunday.

Griffiths has the same problem, and not only with detractors outside of his homeland.

The Scotland manager Gordon Strachan apparently remains unconvinced. Perhaps not about Griffiths, but about his ability to fit into his system.

His reluctance to move with the times was infuriating when listless defeats to Georgia (1-0) and Germany (3-2) last month left Scotland no longer in control of their own destiny in this qualifying campaign.

If Ireland pick up a win against world champions Germany in Dublin or Poland in Warsaw in their final two matches, the Scots are finished in these qualifiers, but that remains a mighty big if.

All Scotland know is that they need goals and a win against Poland to maximise their prospects of a play-off spot before they make their final stand in Gibraltar on Sunday.

The Sunderland forward Steven Fletcher has scored four goals in 23 matches for his country - including three against Gibraltar in March - but is deployed in the lone forward role for his country because he is deemed to be able to hold play up and interact with others in a 4-5-1 formation. At times against Georgia and Germany, he did not seem to function properly relating to his job lot, but neither did the team.

Is Strachan too rigid to find room for Griffiths, the country's outstanding in-form forward?

If Strachan opts for the same old story in Fletcher, it will be an epic leap of blind faith in a player who has not contributed enough to warrant an extension to his stay. Especially when Griffiths can leap like a deer better than Fletcher.

Leaving out Griffiths might leave Strachan full of regrets when this is all done, but is there really a choice to be made? All the attention will be focused on the Poland goal addict Robert Lewandowski at Hampden Park as he crushes all before him, but Griffiths can slip under the radar.

Like Lewandowski, he won't miss if the chance comes along.