ARMSTRONG WINTERBREAKS SKY-BLUE HEARTS
Revived Stuart comes off bench to save Saints’ season
SOUTHAMPTON
Armstrong 63 Walker-Peters 112
1 Gyokeres 22
COVENTRY
2
BY TOM PRENTKI
STUART ARMSTRONG revealed the winter break has given him a new lease of life after coming on as a substitute to rescue Southampton’s FA Cup campaign from disaster.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints were in danger of being dumped out of the cup by Championship Coventry before Armstrong unleashed a 25-yard wonder strike to take the tie into extra time.
The Scotland midfielder, who has endured an injury-disrupted season, said: “I’m very happy the winter break has been introduced to the game. The December schedule is very hectic for all teams.
“It’s just nice to have that down time, take a week and to get away. It refreshes your body and mind.”
The break also gave Hasenhuttl the chance to restore fit-again teenage wonder-kid Tino Livramento to the starting line-up. Armstrong said: “Me and Tino were saying after the game that we haven’t played together for such a long time on that right side.
“I was out and then he was, so it was really good to play with him again. He’s a top-quality player and has obviously shown that lots of times this season. It’s a massive boost to have him back.”
Saints host West Ham in the next round and Armstrong is hoping for a strong end to the campaign for club and country. The former Celtic ace is counting down to Scotland’s crucial
World Cup play-off clash with Ukraine next month.
He said: “From a personal point of view it’s been a really frustrating first half of the season for me. I felt good on Saturday – like my old self. It’s my first goal of the season as well so definitely something to build on.” Hasenhuttl admitted that he would like to see more consistency in Armstrong’s performances but was in no doubt that the team have missed his attacking quality.
“We always see how important he is for our game when he’s on the pitch,” said the Austrian. “Especially in this 10 position. He’s so flexible, he has runs with the ball around the box and is always dangerous for a goal.”
Saints won the tie through Kyle Walker-Peters’ strike late in extra time (celebrating left), but Coventry had more than held their own for 112 minutes after Viktor Gyokeres gave them the lead.
Manager Mark Robins paid tribute to the Swedish striker, who has now scored 11 times in 30 appearances this season. The Sky Blues boss said: “He came back to us having been on loan and we made it permanent in the summer. He was absolutely magnificent, everything he hit was going in.
“He had loads of confidence and it was because we put our faith in him.” Robins believes the Scandinavian has all the qualities needed to play in the top flight in the future. “He’s been called up into the Sweden squad so things are moving in the right direction for him,” he added. “He has got a lot of good attributes to allow him to play at the top level at some point.”