Armstrong ‘dream’ Hampden Park outing with Killie

Danny Armstrong will tick off a career goal when he takes to the Hampden Park pitch for Kilmarnock’s Viaplay Cup semi-final against Celtic on Saturday.

The 25-year-old winger grew up watching semi-finals and finals taking place at the national stadium and hoped to play his part in a showpiece occasion one day.

Armstrong did play and win against Queen’s Park at Hampden Park in 2018 when he was at Raith Rovers but knows this weekend, when Killie look to get to their first final since they won the trophy in 2012, will be of much bigger significance.

The former Ross County player said: “It is one of the games you want to play in.

“Win this game and you are in a national final at Hampden. It is a dream so hopefully we can get there.

“It is always been a goal of mine to play there in a national semi-final or final so I am glad we have got there and we are looking forward to Saturday.

“Growing up in Scotland you watch all the finals and semi-finals there and I always thought to myself that I would love to be there one day.

“I’ve seen all the big moments there and I would love to be part of that myself.”

Killie lost 2-0 to in-form Celtic in the cinch Premiership at Parkhead on Saturday but Armstrong insists they have to go to Hampden Park with the belief that they can pull off what would be a huge shock against the holders.

He said: “There is no point in going into the game with no belief at all, that will get you nowhere.

“The boys know it is a one-off game, anything can happen. Obviously they are an unbelievable team. You see that every week.

“I thought we frustrated them for large parts of the first half and even for large parts of the second half on Saturday. We can certainly take confidence from that game.

“We will be looking to create a few more chances and hopefully we can get a couple of goals.”