Celtic boss tells Leigh Griffiths to '˜learn lesson'

Brendan Rodgers hopes Leigh Griffiths has learned his lesson from a potential one-match Uefa ban and warned the striker his place in the Celtic'¨team wil be under threat unless he behaves himself .

Leigh Griffiths has been warned by manager Brendan Rodgers that his place could be under threat

Uefa have charged Griffiths with provoking spectators at the end of last Friday’s Champions League qualifier against Linfield in Belfast when he tied a Celtic scarf to one of the goalposts at Windsor Park.

Celtic’s 2-0 win in the first leg of the second qualifying round tie was marred by incidents of bottles and coins being thrown at Griffiths during the match. The 26-year-old Scotland international was controversially booked by Spanish referee Alejandro Hernandez for time-wasting when he stopped to pick up one of the missiles – a Buckfast bottle –which landed close to him.

Rodgers remains critical of the decision to caution Griffiths, one of five yellow cards received by Celtic in the match which incurs an automatic Uefa charge of improper conduct by the team. Both cases will be heard by Uefa tomorrow, along with two charges against Linfield for the crowd disorder.

Griffiths, who could miss tonight’s second leg against the Northern Irish champions because of a calf injury, is facing the possibility of a one-match suspension which would rule him out of the first leg of Celtic’s projected third qualifying round tie against Rosenborg or Dundalk next week.

“It’s a lesson learned for him,” said Rodgers. “It could mean he misses a Champions League qualification game which is a huge game for the club and a huge game for Leigh, considering he wants to be available all the time. For