STRESSED UP TO THE NINES

Stuart feared repeat of Saints humiliation in Athens rout

- BY ANTHONY EVANS IN ATHENS

STUART ARMSTRONG was a second-half substitute in Southampton's infamous 9-0 drubbing at the hands of Leicester City back in October 2019.

And the Aberdeen midfielder admits there could have been no complaints if AEK Athens had whacked them by the same scoreline on Thursday night.

Jimmy Thelin's team had put in a credible performance against a similar calibre of opposition when they ran Shakhtar Dontesk close in a 3-2 thriller at Pittodrie on matchday one in the Conference League but were given a reality check of the highest order in the Greek capital.

They shipped three goals in either half to consign the club to their biggest ever defeat in European competition, eclipsing 5-1 losses to Sigma Olomouc and Bayern Munich in 2009 and 2008 respectively.

Armstrong, 33, returned to Scotland last summer after six years away and concedes that his new team got off lightly against AEK.

"I think that's probably fair", he said. "I think they hit the post four or five times as well. It's never nice to experience that, where you feel like you were never really in the game.