BOSS Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted he had been keen to get creative midfielder Stuart Armstrong up to full speed and added: “He can definitely help the team.” The former Celtic man came back late to Saints’ pre-season training schedule, due to his commitments for Scotland at Euro 2020 this summer. He impressed in Saturday’s 3-1 friendly victory over Swansea, scoring just before the hour mark and then being replaced by youngster Ryan Finnigan after 73 minutes. Asked about Armstrong’s display,
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “You also see he is still missing a little bit – he has been in training one week and in one week you cannot train as much as when you come in the highest level fitness-wise. We must work with him that he is then also able to go longer than 70 minutes.”
Armstrong started alongside stand-in skipper Oriol Romeu during the contest in Wales, a deeper role he had been utilised for when Saints were stretched with injuries last season.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I mean we have flexible players. Ori to have back is important for us but Stuey also showed last season, especially with the ball he is a very good six, who carries the ball very good in the opposition half. This is his biggest strength – there he can definitely help the team.”
