‘I DON’T REGRET MY £7m SWITCH,’ STU

STUART ARMSTRONG has admitted he does not regret quitting Celtic in a £7million switch to Southampton in the summer.

The 27-year-old Scotland international midfielder said: “It’s always challenging when you go to a new team, a new environment. It has taken a bit of time to get used to the different styles.

“But it’s a fresh challenge and I’m excited about that.

“Because I was at Dundee United and then Celtic, it was eight years of playing the same teams over and over again. The fixture list [in England]excites me, going to these new places, new stadiums that you have watched on the TV and been to as a young boy. That’s exciting.

“The time was right. The summer before, I had some thoughts about it, but I had had one season with Brendan Rodgers and I wanted another.

“I knew in the back of my head that, ultimately, the time would come when I wanted a fresh challenge and if I didn’t take it, I would probably have regretted it. It was about changing for a bit of experience and trying something new.”

Armstrong has started two of the Saints’ four Premier League fixtures so far and featured from the substitutes’ bench in the other two.