Stuart Armstrong has revealed that he was frustrated to be deployed out on the left by former Celtic boss Ronny Deila last season, with the 25-year-old insisting that his impressive goalscoring record in the present campaign is due to him playing centrally.
Deila, who was replaced by Brendan Rodgers last summer, mostly played Armstrong on the left during the 2015/16 campaign.
As a result, the midfielder managed to score just four times and set up eight goals in 39 games in Deila’s last season in charge of the Scottish giants.
But Armstrong has been playing in his favoured central midfield role under Rodgers, with the Scotland international scoring 16 goals and providing seven assists in 46 appearances in all competitions in the present campaign.
And the former Dundee United man, who explained that he felt frustrated to be played out of position last season, said that he always believed he could play his best football if he was deployed as a central midfielder.
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“They're completely different seasons with change in managers, change of styles and change of atmosphere”, he said on Celtic TV, when asked could he have imagined a year ago that he would be in such a position, given the season he had last term.
“It’s a very different feeling to what I had last season and the frustrations that came with that.
“But I’m in a much better place now, I think I’ve developed as a player and I’m tasting a lot more success.
“It was always a frustration of mine being on the left hand side.
“I think you can see how more comfortable I am playing in central midfield.
“I always believed that I could play my best football there so it’s nice to do that.”
On the back of his impressive performances for Celtic this season, Armstrong earned his maiden Scotland cap in a World Cup qualifier against Slovenia in March.
