STUART Armstrong has welcomed Alex McLeish’s decision to make Callum McGregor the new Scotland captain and backed his old Celtic team mate to lead by example.
McLeish has named McGregor his skipper for his side’s opening Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan here in the newly-named capital city of Nursultan this evening after both Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney were ruled out by injury.
The Parkhead midfielder only won his first cap for his country back in 2017 despite playing consistently well for his club both domestically and in Europe for several seasons.
But Armstrong has no doubts McGregor is an inspired choice to don the armband and expects the man he played alongside for three seasons at Parkhead to inspire those around him to perform at their very best.
“Cal is a natural leader on the pitch and a very good footballer too,” he said. “He has respect from all the boys and the way he conducts himself with Celtic and on the pitch is exemplary. He spurs the team on and is a great individual to lead the team.
“The way he plays and dictates the game technically obviously helps and he helps the team vocally. He is a very good leader.
“It's obviously disappointing to have Andy out, but I think the squad as a whole is a good one in terms of depth and Callum is taking on the captaincy. I have played with him for many years so I know his abilities as a leader. The team has a lot of respect for him.
“He is very organised. Sometimes you play with players who are natural leaders on the pitch who spur the team on, not so much vocally but naturally with their play. Callum is definitely one of those players. He has a lot of respect in that sense. He is very good technically too. The team are delighted that he is going to be leading the nation as it were. It's a great honour for Callum."
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Armstrong and McGregor have both played on the artificial surface in the Astana Arena before with Celtic – in Champions League qualifiers against Astana in 2016 and 2017 – and doesn’t envisage the venue causing Scotland too many difficulties.
“When I came here before I was actually impressed with the condition of the pitch,” he said. “It’s quite nice for an AstroTurf. Obviously, we would prefer grass. But I think it’s okay. All the boys in the squad will have experienced playing on AstroTurf before, so it’s no problem.”
Armstrong also believes remaining on British time since arriving in Central Asia on Monday will prove beneficial to the national team in their opening Group I match.
“With Celtic, Astana were a good side and it was a long distance to travel,” he said. “But what we did with Celtic was what we are doing with Scotland now. Staying on UK time definitely helps with preparation because it avoids upsetting your day to day rhythm and preparation. In terms of that it has been good.
“The boys are used to playing early lunchtime, afternoon, evening kick-offs now. The way we prepare is like any other game. It’s not going to upset us in terms of preparation.
"I think I’ve done it a few times before, mainly with Celtic travelling to countries with vast time differences. Speaking personally I find it an easy transition to keep the same routine.”
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Scotland’s chances of building on their Nations League performances – they topped their section and secured a Euro 2020 play-off place thanks to wins over Albania away and Israel at home – have been reduced by a raft of call-offs.
Jordan Archer, Barry Bannan, Charlie Mulgrew, Robertson and Tierney have all pulled out of the original 27 man squad.
However, Armstrong remains confident that McLeish’s men can launch their qualification campaign with an important away win with the players who are able to feature.
“Ideally, you’d want everyone available,” he said. “As a nation, we want to be the best we can be. If you look at the squad as a whole, there are a lot of individuals who are playing really well for their independent clubs. We have a belief in the whole squad, that’s why you pick many players.
“I think each game is different from the next. We have had a good few performances recently which we are feeling good about and feel confident as a team. That can only transfer to the next game. As a group we are feeling good.
“The squads I have been in there has always been competition no matter where you play. The boys up front will say exactly the same thing. Everyone is performing well and that’s why they are in the squad. They will probably all feel they deserve a chance in the team.
“Regardless of competition or not everyone wants to perform well for their country. But I think that element of competition can only help in terms of performance. That’s the way we like to play.”
Armstrong added: “Scotland would like to be involved in a major competition sooner rather than later. It has been a while since we have been in. We are all missing it.”
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