Celtic's Craig Gordon is by far the best in Scotland - Leigh Griffiths

Craig Gordon has been trying to re-establish himself as Celtic's first-choice goalkeeper

Leigh Griffiths insists Craig Gordon is the best goalkeeper in Scotland by a distance after he returned to the Celtic team against Manchester City.

Gordon lost his place to Dorus de Vries in the wake of the Dutchman's arrival before replacing him at half-time in the 6-1 league win over Kilmarnock.

The Scotland goalkeeper helped ensure Celtic registered their first point after the 3-3 Champions League classic.

"He's the best keeper in Scotland by a country mile," said Griffiths.

"The big man is top drawer.

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"It's unfortunate that he got dropped but he earned his place and I don't think he could do much about the goals.

"But at times he's kept us in it and I'm sure he'll be delighted with his performance.

"The Barcelona game wasn't great but we've shown Man City and everyone watching at home that we're a top side."

Indeed, last season's top scorer believes he and his team-mates proved a point with their stirring performance just 15 days after the excruciating 7-0 drubbing in Barcelona.

"We stood off and admired Barcelona but the manager wanted us to go in there, get right up tight to Man City and show a lot more aggression, passion and desire while getting the ball moved quickly, and we did that," added Griffiths.

"I think they'll be a bit surprised at how well we played at times.

"The gaffer said that our Champions League starts with this game. Barcelona's Barcelona; they beat a lot of teams 6-0 or 7-0, we won't be the first and we won't be the last.

"There was another game that finished 6-0. Borussia Dortmund beat Legia Warsaw away from home but nothing was said about that.

"We've proved a lot of people wrong. We are a top side and can compete at this level."

Dembele 'on flames'

Tom Rogic and Scott Sinclair celebrate with Celtic scorer Moussa Dembele

Like Gordon, Griffiths has also found himself on the outside looking in. He returned to the side from a hamstring injury at the same time as the 33-year-old keeper, as a substitute against Killie, and made a late cameo in the thriller with City.

In that time, team-mate Moussa Dembele has scored eight goals including a derby hat-trick against Rangers and his double Champions League salvo against Pep Guardiola's expensively assembled squad.

"He's on flames," Griffiths said. "Everybody keeps saying 'Moussa's this, Moussa's that' but it's a squad game, I've been injured and the big man's stepped up to the plate.

"There's none more delighted than me that he's scored again. He's keeping me out of the team and rightly so but if the manager can accommodate us both then brilliant.

"If not, I'll need to sit on the bench because he's earned the right to play."

'We won't get carried away'

Celtic's James Forrest takes on Aleksander Kolarov

Meanwhile, James Forrest admits the experience against the English Premier League side was something to savour.

"It was definitely up there, the fans were unbelievable," the winger told BBC Scotland.

"It was a great start, we got everybody going. We gave it our all and got a good result.

"They'd won 10 in a row and we've come off maybe a wee bit gutted that we didn't win. It just shows you what we put into it.

"We won't get carried away. It was a good point but we'll take that into the next game."