NATIONAL SERVICE FOR STUART

From Back Page squad to face Georgia and Germany for the Euro 2016 qualifiers 18 months ago, before having to withdraw due to injury. Yet to actually earn a cap, the former Under-19 and Under-21 skipper admits that a senior breakthrough is the next step after his key role in taking Celtic 19 points clear of Rangers in the Premiership with a game in hand. ‘It’s always an ambition for any player to play on the international stage and, of course, I want to play for my country,’ he admitted after Saturday’s victorious trip to Ibrox. ‘What a great honour that would be. But my focus is on playing here and the rest comes from that.’ Armstrong credits Brendan Rodgers with both his own revival and making Celtic a completely different team from last season under Ronny Deila. ‘A lot of our players have a lot to thank the manager for,’ added Armstrong. ‘It’s the way we have developed under him — and I can speak from personal experience for the way my Celtic career is going now. ‘He revived it no end and gave me something to work for and let me play in my favourite position. ‘He has done that with a number of other players and we look like a completely different team to what we did last year. ‘I have nothing but praise for him because he has revived me at Celtic. Not only me, but the team. ‘We always know he has a plan to change a game if it’s not going the way we want — he’s always got a plan B. ‘He is always thinking how we can improve and we very much believe in him and he very much believes in us. ‘It’s a very good team and Rangers was a very important game for us in a very busy run of matches in December. ‘It was vital we keep on pushing right to the very end and it was a very good victory.’ Entering a three-week winter break, Celtic players will now take a week’s rest before flying to Dubai for eight days to prepare for the second half of the season. Playing down talk of a Treble or smashing the Lisbon Lions’ record of 26 games unbeaten at the start of a season (the current run stands at 24), Armstrong added: ‘It’s never been our style to get ahead of ourselves, it’s one game at a time and I don’t see us preparing any differently. Now we’ve got a chance for a bit of a rest before we get back at it again.’