Leigh Griffiths wants to extend loan deal with Hibs

Leigh GRIFFITHS has told Hibs he’s keen to extend his loan deal at Easter Road – and boss Colin Calderwood wants to keep him.

The Scotland Under-21 star is due to return to Wolverhampton Wanderers on January 9 after Molineux manager Mick McCarthy sanctioned a temporary move to provide the former Livingston and Dundee player with regular first-team football.

After signing a two-and-a-half year deal with the Midlands outfit at the start of this year, Griffiths managed just one first-team appearance as a substitute in a League Cup tie against Northampton but jumped at the chance to return north of the Border to join the club he’s supported all his life. He finally got his first two goals for Hibs on Saturday, helping Calderwood’s side to a much-needed 3-2 win over St Mirren and now he has revealed he’d quite happily remain in Edinburgh beyond the current agreement.

While Calderwood is in contact with McCarthy to keep him appraised of Griffiths’ progress, the prospect of an extended deal has yet to be raised but the Hibs boss has indicated he has every intention of doing so. And with Griffiths also content to pull on a green-and-white shirt, presumably until the end of the season, it would appear it would only need McCarthy’s approval for a further agreement to be reached.

Griffiths said: “I haven’t heard anything, I’ve not spoken to anyone down south as I have been concentrating on my time here but if I can extend the loan deal I would be delighted. However, it’s up to Hibs and Wolves to see if they can strike a deal.”

Calderwood, though, appears intent on trying to do so, the former Scotland defender saying: “We’ve got to talk to Wolves at the time. We’re in contact with them just to keep them up-to-date on how Leigh’s doing and it’s something we’ve got to broach.”

Meanwhile, Calderwood has warned his players not to be fooled into believing Celtic are vulnerable ahead of tomorrow night’s Scottish Communities League Cup clash with Neil Lennon’s side despite the Hoops having fallen ten points behind Old Firm rivals Rangers in the race for the SPL title.

Instead, Calderwood insists Celtic are “on the up” following recent matches which saw them battle back from three goals down against Kilmarnock to snatch a draw before coming from behind to take a point away to Rennes in the Europa League and then shrugging off the disappointment of losing an equaliser to Aberdeen to claim the win.

He said: “I think they are a good side. They’ve had one or two results that people raise a question at but that’s because of the level they expect of themselves.

“I think they are actually on some sort of an up. This is a cup tie they will expect to win and one we want to win.”