ANGE POSTECOGLOU says that Leigh Griffiths will have to live with the negative reaction he is receiving from Celtic supporters, and he has told the striker it is up to him to win them over once more.
Griffiths received a mixed reception from the Celtic fans as he made his return to action in a disappointing 6-2 friendly defeat to West Ham, with a sizeable section of the crowd booing his introduction as a substitute, while others later applauded him.
Having been cleared by police of any criminal wrongdoing over accusations of sending inappropriate messages to young girls, Postecoglou has challenged the forward to now focus on his football to get the fans back on side.
“That's going to be down to Leigh and his performances,” Postecoglou said.
“If he works hard at training and produces the kind of football he can, scoring goals, I'm sure the crowd will get behind him.
“I won't be telling the Celtic supporters anything. They've followed this club a lot longer than I've been here. My job is to produce a team they're proud of and we let them down today.
“Maybe it is a big challenge for him but that's what he wanted. He didn't have to come back.
“He wanted to come back and play for the club again. He wanted to contribute.
“When you make that decision, you embrace everything that comes along with it.”
Postecoglou says that the emphatic friendly defeat hasn’t given him any fresh concerns over his team going into the second leg of their Champions League qualifier against FC Midtjylland in Denmark next week.
“This result makes no difference to my confidence ahead of Wednesday,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough challenge going over there.
“We saw in the first leg that we played well but it was still a tight contest. It'll be the same in the second leg.”
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