There was something telling last Friday night at Hampden as Celtic’s Scottish contingent started the evening on the bench.

The labour of a campaign that already sits at 53 games for James Forrest – recently named second in a global stats table of players who have had the most game time this season – meant there was a sensible call to give a little time out.

That might change this evening in Budapest as Scotland prepare to take on Hungary in their second friendly of the international window but for Stuart Armstrong game time is the one thing he could do with.

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The Celtic midfielder has been out since the turn of the year after undergoing surgery to correct a hernia problem but is slowly building up his first-team fitness. The 25-year-old got some time under his belt when he came off the bench for Celtic at Ibrox and then Fir Park, cameo appearances that were added to when he got half an hour against Costa Rica.

“I had five minutes against Rangers, 30 minutes against Motherwell and then another half an hour against Costa Rica so I’m definitely feeling much better physically now than I did in December – I’m much more like myself again,” he said.

“I’m feeling good and really looking forward to being involved in the big games between now and the end of the season.

“It was difficult because it had [the hernia] been bothering me for a fair length of time and, obviously, it was a situation which needed to be resolved – it wasn’t something which I could keep putting off. There’s no doubt that it was beginning to affect me.

“So I’m just glad that I was able to finally get it sorted, even though it did take a little longer for me to recover from the surgery than, ideally, I would have liked. But I’m back now and I’m ready to go again.”

Armstrong’s situation this summer at Celtic seems unlikely to be the same seesaw of last year.

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The player eventually signed a one-year extension to his contract at the end of August as the end of the transfer window loomed but the short-term nature of the deal meant that it was always going to be back on the table at this stage.

However, whereas last term the midfielder had made himself a pivotal part of Brendan Rodgers’ treble winning side in the latter half of the campaign, this season his contribution hasn’t been quite so notable.

That largely comes down to missing a significant chunk as he recovered from surgery, while it would be fair to suggest that his form would have been compromised in the opening half of the season before he went under the knife.

Rodgers seems unruffled by the situation which would lend itself to an impression that the player may decide to look elsewhere at the end of the season. It is a situation he was unwilling to shed any light on – “I’m not going to talk about that just now” – but whatever comes next, the finale of the campaign will give the player the opportunity to build up some momentum. With Celtic vying for a back-to-back Treble, a fully fit Armstrong would be a significant addition to the Celtic midfield. The next month will see Celtic bring those ambitions into sharp focus with the club expected to seal their seventh successive title imminently while a Scottish Cup semi-final tie against Rangers awaits.

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“My last start was in the 0-0 draw against Rangers at Parkhead on December 30,” said Armstrong. “Since then we’ve had the winter break, been away in Dubai and then come back again so it seems as though I’ve been out for much longer than I actually have. I’m just happy to be stripped for action again.”

A start this evening against Hungary would be no bad thing for Armstrong. It remains to be seen if Scotland can lift the performance from Friday night but is would appear certain that there will be significant changes made to the starting line-up.

In any case, Armstrong is confident that there is much more to come from Scotland. Alex McLeish has started his second stint in the Scotland post but on the evidence of Friday night’s showing there remains a substantial bit of work to be done on the national team.

“We had new faces and new caps and it always takes a bit of time to bed in and get that fluidity back in the team but there was certainly enough there to give us encouragement going forward.

“You’ve always got to be confident because we have a really talented group at the moment and it’s really all about blending everyone together and becoming stronger as a unit with each passing game.

“I think there were positive aspects you could take from both halfs, really. The second period became more open, probably because the Costa Ricans got a bit tired and we made some changes.

“It was a friendly, after all, and that’s when you try different things and have a go with alternative formations. We had four players making their debut in the starting XI on Friday so that was excellent experience for them. You’ve got to try these things in friendlies.”