The generous role Celtic played in getting old favourite ready for Sheffield Wednesday signing
It took just one training session for Danny Röhl to decide new Sheffield Wednesday signing Stuart Armstrong was primed and ready for match action - despite having not played competitively for over two months.
The Owls boss, who is known to be meticulous in his ‘staging-up’ of player fitness before they are thrown in to face the required intensity of Championship football, has spoken about a period of building for Armstrong’s fellow new boy Ibrahim Cissoko, who has played less than half an hour of match action since sustaining an injury in October.
For Armstrong there are no such concerns. He last played on November 9 but less than a couple of days on from the completion of his switch from MLS outfit Vancouver Whitecaps, the 32-year-old made a standout impact from the bench in their Hillsborough draw with Luton Town at the weekend.
The Scotland international opted to play in a pre-season friendly for Vancouver in Spain the day before travelling to the UK to complete a permanent transfer switch that reunited him with his former Southampton colleague Röhl.
But it is now revealed that the former Celtic favourite, who won two trebles in a three-year stint in Glasgow, also tapped into his old club to stay fit between the end of the MLS season and the start of their pre-season programme in order to keep himself fit and ready for the new campaign - wherever that was likely to be.
“He finished the season in November and he trained with Celtic, Röhl told The Star. “Then they (Vancouver) started their pre-season. Stuart is a very professional player and I think after one training session it was clear to me that he needed to be on the bench. He showed some of what he can give us, the deep runs, the smart passes, the decision-making. I am very happy that we now have such a player in our squad.”
It remains to be seen whether Armstrong is chosen to make his full Owls debut as Wednesday make the trip to West Brom on Saturday for an early kick-off clash against a perceived play-off rival.