Southampton: Armstrong nets for Scotland and Bednarek plays in Poland win

Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong found the net with a superb free-kick as Scotland beat San Marino 6-0 on Sunday.

The 27-year-old was introduced in the 70th minute with Scotland already 5-0 up but stepped up with confidence to curl in a superb effort from around 25 yards out.

This was Armstrong’s 17th cap for his national side and he will be hoping that glimpses of his ability like this will prove his worth to Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Minutes on the pitch so far this season have been few and far between for him but he remains a different option should the Saints boss feel the need for a change.

Hasenhuttl has favoured a midfield three recently but is yet to include a number 10 in his line-ups, and Armstrong provides that possibility.

Before Armstrong’s goal, Aston Villa man John McGinn had netted a hat-trick, whilst further strikes from Lawrence Shankland and Stuart Findlay made the result more comfortable.

Scotland sit fourth in Euro 2020 Qualifying Group I after a disappointing campaign to date, but they are assured of a play-off place after their performance in the Nations League.

Saints defender Jan Bednarek was also in action on Sunday and played the full 90 minutes in Poland’s 2-0 victory over North Macedonia.

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It was the 23-year-old’s 19th appearance for his country, but he and his teammates had to wait until the final stages of the match for their goals.

Chicago Fire midfielder Przemysław Frankowski opened the scoring in the 74th minute, and it was 2-0 when Arkadiusz Milik found the net shortly after.

Poland have now qualified for Euro 2020 and Bednarek will be wanting to cement his place in the starting line-up for next summer’s competition.

In contrast to Stuart Armstrong, Bednarek has been a regular starter for Saints this season and has had a steady start to the campaign.

However, he and his teammates will be keen to improve their displays as a unit after mixed results so far.

Saints academy product Callum Slatery was also in action twice for England Under-20s in the past few days.

He played the final seven minutes of a 2-2 draw with Italy on Thursday and more than an hour in Monday’s 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic.