Leigh Griffiths has hit out at Rangers chairman Dave King and branded him “ludicrous” after the latter criticised Celtic for not being further ahead of their Old Firm rivals.
King recently spoke to the Daily Record and slammed the Hoops for not progressing further as a club despite securing a historic treble last season and remaining unbeaten throughout the entire domestic campaign.
Speaking at the official launch event for the Scottish Premier League season, as quoted in the Scottish Sun, Griffiths was quick to respond to King’s comments and he believes that Rangers have a long way to go before they can compete with Celtic.
“What was the gulf, 30-odd points? How big does he expect it to be?” he scoffed.
“The first game they got hammered 5-1, they got hammered 5-1 in the last game of the season. The gulf couldn’t be any bigger.
“They will be trying this season to bridge the gap but for (King) to come out and say we should be further ahead is ludicrous really.
“Thirty-odd points is mad and if you said to somebody at the start of last season that Rangers would finish that far behind, they’d be raging.”
Celtic faced their Old Firm rivals six times in all competitions last season, winning five matches and scoring a total of 16 goals in the process.
Griffiths only featured in three matches against Rangers last season but he still managed to score one goal and provide two assists.
Although he struggled with injuries throughout the majority of last season, the Scotland international still contributed with 18 goals and 15 assists in all competitions.
Griffiths will now be looking ahead to the SPL campaign as it was confirmed on Thursday morning that the league champions will welcome Hearts to Celtic Park on the opening day of the season.
The first Old Firm derby of the upcoming campaign is set to played at the end of September.