Russell Martin has promised Southampton will pull out all stops to save Stuart Armstrong’s Euro 2024 dream after the midfielder was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Armstrong - who won his 50th Scotland cap in last month’s friendly defeat to Northern Ireland - was stretchered off in the latter stages of the Championship defeat to Cardiff on Saturday. It’s the latest headache for Scotland boss Steve Clarke who has lost Lewis Ferguson to an ACL injury and has huge doubts over right back duo Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson. However, initial fears that Armstrong had damaged his knee have been allayed by scans that show the damage is to his thigh. And former Scotland defender Martin, now boss at St Mary’s, hopes the 32-year-old will recover in time for Germany as he begins his rehab on the south coast.
Martin said: “It’s his quad, it’s a muscle injury. We’ll do everything we can to get him fit for the Euros for Scotland. I think he has a big chance for that, I don’t think he has any chance of playing for us really.
“He has a big hope of getting in the Scotland squad because he’s been fantastic for them and for us this season and has been in every squad, and I think there’s a realistic chance with the injury he has to be fit for that.
“So we will do everything we can as a football club to help him get there. It wasn’t as serious as we all feared but it is serious enough to keep him out for a period of time now where he can’t help us unfortunately.”
Armstrong collapsed to the ground after having a shot blocked late on in Saints’ 2-1 defeat in Wales. Speaking immediately after the game Martin admitted the injury appeared “a bad one”. But scans have shown it’s less serious than first feared.
The deadline for Clarke to name his final squad is June 7 meaning Armstrong has less than seven weeks to prove his fitness. The former Celtic and Dundee United ace featured in all three of Scotland's games in the last Euros in 2021. However he won't play any part in the remainder of his club's season as Saints look to win promotion back to the Premier League.
