LEIGH GRIFFITHS last night admitted he never dreamed he could make history and score 40 goals in a single season for Celtic.

And the country’s top marksman insisted he was far from finished and intended to keep up his sensational form for the rest of his years at Parkhead.

The defeat to St Johnstone - two defensive blunders handed the Perth men victory was almost incidental when Griffiths managed to hit such a landmark.

Bobby Lennox, Jimmy McGrory, Joe McBride, Kenny Dalglish, Charlie Nicholas, Brian McClair and Henrik Larsson are the other Celts to hit 40 goals in single campaign.

Griffiths said: “To get mentioned in the same breath as these guys is something I need to cherish.

"There are strikers who have been here who haven't managed to score 40 goals in a season. I have managed to do that and my name will go down in the history books now.

"How many can I get? I have five years left on my contract and if I can keep hitting this form, I'll be happy.

"It will be difficult. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd hit 40 this season - it's mad. But I kept my head down, I worked and tried to put the chances away.

"Will I target more next season? You can't set targets. This season was about getting consistency, getting in the team and I want to keep doing that.

"The new manager will have his own ideas and own philosophies and I will need to work hard again. I want to stay in the team and hopefully repay the manager with goals.”

Griffiths celebrated behind the goal with his son Rhys and managed to avoid being booked by Willie Collum.

He even thanked Scottish football’s most controversial referee.

Griffiths said: “I went to my oldest son, the other three were at home watching the game. All four will be there walking on the pitch with me on Sunday. I saw him just after the warm-up, I gave him a kiss and a cuddle and asked him how many I would score and he said ‘two.’

“I said that I would take one and he said that was okay. So when I scored I saw him and gave him a cuddle.

"I don't normally thanks refs, but I will thank Willie. I got booked at Hearts for nothing and a referee missed a handball at my team Hibs, which wasn't great.

"But if you speak to a ref nicely, he will let you away with one or two.

“I could have jumped in the stand but didn’t. He said he wasn’t going to book me because I had taken my son when on the ash, I thank him for that.”

Griffiths has had the figure of 40 in his thoughts for some time and was delighted to get before the end of the season. He is suspended for Sunday’s final match with Motherwell.

He admitted: “It’s been on my mind, especially since Sunday when I didn’t have my best game. I had a chance tonight in the first-half where I should have done better with a header, but with the second chance I managed to wiggles my way through the box then slid it past the goalie.

Griffiths still had enough about him to remind his team-mates that even when a league title has been secured, certain standards still have to be met at the club.

“To give away two goals was disappointing. The two goals we lost were very sloppy. The players who came in are all good players, they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t, but this was a reminder about the levels you need at Celtic.”