Away from the spotlight in Romania, ex-Kilmarnock winger Danny Armstrong is in fine form for Dinamo Bucharest and is now subject to murmurs of a Scotland call-up.
Armstrong spent four seasons at Kilmarnock, three of which in the Premiership. Despite previous links to follow Derek McIness from Ayrshire to Hearts, the winger stayed one further year at Kilmarnock before signing for Dinamo Bucharest at the beginning of last season.
Since joining Dinamo, Armstrong provided 17 goal contributions last season and already sits on five goals and 10 assists after 12 games thus far in this campaign. He’s also been directly involved in at least one goal in every game he’s played this season bar two.
Speaking to the Romanian media on the winger’s form, former FCSB and Benfica midfielder Basarab Panduru said: “Danny Armstrong has not been called up to the Scottish national team because he plays in the Romanian Super League.
“Armstrong is very good for our league, he’s an excellent player and raises the standard.
“But I think it’s beneath the dignity of the Scots to call up a player from Romania.
“I watched him at the weekend and he was unhappy at being substituted, but they have some crazy guys in the Scottish national team too!
“My advice to him is to hang in there because he will surely get a call-up soon.”
Speaking in an interview about the prospect of a Scotland call-up, Armstrong said: “People thought I was a winger, but I never really was.
“The majority of the time I was a right wing-back or right midfielder. It was a position that I made my own.
“Derrick (McInnes) brought the best out of me in that side of things as well and we were quite successful.”
So what’s the case for handing Armstrong his first call-up?
Firstly, his output is hard to argue with. You’d be had pressed to find a Scotsman with similar output so far this season, some of his competition might not end their seasons on 15 goal contributions, never mind hit that mark by October. Of corse, it is whilst playing in Romania, but as Scots we understand the frustration of our league being downplayed, it feels unfair to do that about a player excelling in Romania.
Of course, Pocognoli doesn’t typically play with wingers and it’s unlikely Armstrong would be deployed as one of the two #10s, but he could be worth a call-up at wing-back.
As Armstrong himself said, it’s a position he has experience in previously. Of course, Scotland already have options at right wing-back such as Nathan Patterson and Aaron Hickey, but the pair often struggle for fitness and Armstrong could offer both consistency and a goal threat at wing-back.
Ben Gannon-Doak also had a spell at wing-back for Scotland during the last international break, and whilst he’s recovered from the injury he sustained in the famous win over Denmark that sealed our World Cup qualification, game time has still been hard to come by at Bournemouth. The winger’s ability hasn’t been in doubt, but he’s previously been criticised for a lack of end product, which again, Armstrong offers a solution for.
Sebastien Pocognoli’s first Scotland squad featured 11 players playing abroad and five handed their first call-ups for the National Team. Scotland’s November fixtures consist of playing host to North Macedonia before travelling to Switzerland for the Nations League finale, where Armstrong will look to be involved.
