THERE has been many a discussion among Celtic supporters in recent weeks about whether Odsonne Edouard or Leigh Griffiths should start up front for Brendan Rodgers’ team without, not surprisingly, any consensus being reached.

Some want to see Edouard, their record £9 million summer signing, leading the line. Many others, though, would prefer Griffiths, who has been a regular scorer during his four-and-a-half years at Parkhead, given the nod in attack. The argument show no signs of abating any time soon.

Yet, it would appear, with Rodgers putting both men in his starting line-up in the Betfred Cup quarter-final against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night, the whole debate may be a false dichotomy anyway.

Going with two centre forwards is, while unusual, not entirely new for Rodgers. He has deployed Moussa Dembele and Griffiths in the past. Indeed, they dovetailed beautifully to score the winner in the Betfred Cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden two years ago.

He also paired Dembele with Edouard last season with notable results. He put on the latter in the second-half of the Ladbrokes Premiership game against Rangers at Ibrox in March even though Celtic had just had Jozo Simunovic sent off. Within minutes, he had linked up with his compatriot to net what proved to be the winner.

Griffiths is certainly hoping the midweek experiment in Perth is repeated in the coming days as he believes that his team mate Edouard has different strengths which complement his own perfectly. He is confident they can score a lot of goals, something that the double treble winners have had difficulty doing at times this term, in future.

“You see the big man’s qualities,” said the Scotland internationalist, who struck with seven minutes remaining in Perth to book a semi-final spot against Hearts.

“He can make space, he gets the ball and drives at folk and he’s a big threat. We started together against St Johnstone and, hopefully, that’s a partnership going forward.

“I don’t think there is a designated No.1 striker. As a striker, you want to be selfish, you want to play, you want to score goals, but it’s entirely up to the manager who he selects and what formation he wants to go with.

“If myself and Odsonne can fit into that team, that’s great. If not, one of us will be chomping at the bit to get into the side.”

The St Johnstone game was the seventh in succession that Edouard has failed to score in. His sharpness in the final third and indeed general demeanour have left much to be desired during that fallow spell.

However, Griffiths, who has, in stark contrast, netted three times in his last three games, sympathises with his team mate’s plight having gone through the same experience on numerous occasions in his own career and has every confidence he will come good in time.

“As a striker, you are always going to be under the cosh, especially if you are not scoring,” he said. “But the big man works tirelessly in games and in training. He’s a big, big talent and people have seen what he can produce. Folk have to remember he is only 20 years old. He’s still a young lad. But he has all the talent in the world.”

The late goal which Griffiths scored on Wednesday evening helped to quell a growing unrest in the stands not to mention on social media after a draw to St Mirren and defeat to Kilmarnock in the league and ease growing pressure on Rodgers.

The scorer ran straight to his manager, who revealed before kick-off that he had turned down a lucrative offer from a club in China during the summer, in the technical area to celebrate his vital strike.

The 28-year-old was pleased to help silence those, most notably Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd, who suggested there are divisions in the Celtic camp and stressed he was looking forward to enjoying more success under Rodgers in the coming months.

“It [running to the manager] was a show of unity," he said. "There has been a lot of talk this week about a divide in the camp, but we wanted to show everyone that we are still united, we are still fighting for the same cause and we are together as one.

“If you get an offer from China, I’m guessing it would be big bucks. But you know the gaffer’s love for the club, the way he wants to do things and the way he goes about his business.

“There’s always going to be talk about him, but we have shown we are unified and are together fighting for the same cause. We have got three trophies to defend this season. We want to go on and win them again."

Griffiths added: “Everyone loses games. Alright, the manner of the loss last Sunday wasn’t great. Then it starts that we’re boring and this and that.

“But I guarantee you that the people who say that don’t play good football every week. They’ll want to win ugly games. It wasn’t pretty at times at Perth, but you have to grind out the win.

“People are always going to talk, especially when we get a bad result. But it’s how we bounce back and that boys have that bouncebackability to go and show why we are a top team.

“We might not always play the best football, but we’ll always show our character.”