This summer was the worst I’ve had. No manager and star players left, but now we’re in the mix for promotion

ADAM ARMSTRONG is hungry for a quick Premier League return — but right now is loving the Championship.

The Southampton striker wants to see himself back on the same stage as superstars such as Erling Haaland and Mo Salah.

But, in the second tier, the Saints have found that winning feeling again and Armstrong is enjoying his best season since he was at Blackburn, who visit St Mary’s on Saturday.

Southampton go into the game 13 unbeaten — a huge contrast from the 25 losses in 38 top-flight matches last season as they finished bottom.

Armstrong is scoring regularly too — an impressive 12 from 21 matches compared to the four in 53 Prem outings as a Saint.

And he loves not having to wait for the wretched VAR before being able to celebrate goals.

He laughed: “It’s heaven as a striker not having to stop and wait to see if you’re offside. You can just celebrate.

“It’s been a good start individually and, although the team went through a tough spell of four straight defeats in September, the team are now in a good place.

“We’ve come out of that hard period better for it and our aim is simple — promotion.

“Leicester and Ipswich have had incredible starts. Never in Championship history have the top two clubs collected the amount of points they have at this stage — but we can only focus on ourselves and, hopefully come May, we’ll be in the top two.”

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The Saints are only two points behind what last season’s runaway champions Burnley had after 21 games — yet still find themselves fourth and 11 points behind second-placed Ipswich and 12 back from leaders Leicester.

But Armstrong, 26, said: “That’s what you want — fierce competition and quality in a league. It shows how far the Championship has come from 10 to 15 years ago.

“There are some top teams and players. A lot are getting good moves from it too. If you have a good season, Premier League and European clubs can snap you up.”

The last time Armstrong was in the Championship three seasons ago he smashed 28 goals for Blackburn — his career-best campaign. And that earned him his £15million move to the south coast.

But although the striker is back in the second tier, he believes Russell Martin, who took charge in the summer, has created an environment for the Saints to thrive.

Even when the team got thumped 5-0 at Sunderland and 4-1 at home to Leicester in September, there was no panic from Martin, who was adamant the pain was a necessary consequence of his players transitioning to his way of playing.

And that filtered positively into the squad.

Armstrong said: “It’s how the gaffer is as a man. He treats the lads brilliantly. He has all the players on-side and put down a marker in the summer with his staff on how they wanted us to play, which is vastly different to last season.

“You must be brave on the ball, which we’re enjoying, and you’re now seeing a togetherness which wasn’t there last season.

“The manager has brought in players who he previously worked with and know his style — and many lads have left too.

“But the new boys have hit the ground running and everyone is getting on. There’s such a chemistry we want to hang out together away from football too, along with our families. That makes things even better.

“When we went through that bad spell, we were confident of turning things around because of our togetherness. The big defeats didn’t effect us as it doesn’t matter if you lose 1-0 or 5-0, losing is losing.

“We just stuck to what the gaffer wanted and kept plugging away. There was also a willingness to learn and that has ultimately helped us.”

One of the summer signings yet to stamp his mark is fellow striker Ross Stewart.

The Scottish ace arrived to much fanfare when completing his £8million move from Sunderland — but after recovering from an ELEVEN-MONTH Achilles injury lay-off he must now sit out until at least mid-January after just two sub outings.

Armstrong said: “It’s devastating for Ross because he worked so hard to get back fit. It’s a huge blow.

“Football can be a lonely place when you’re injured but all the lads and staff have got around him. That sort of support makes things 100 times better — but Ross is such a positive guy and we’ll see him back soon.”

Many of the Saints players have had to get used to the relentless fixture schedule since relegation.

And Armstrong said: “Some of the boys have never played in this league, which is one of the hardest to get out of, so it was important for me to give them as much advice as I could.

“You often have a game every three or four days so it’s about how you prepare your body, recover and what you eat and drink. Recovery is the best thing … and sleeping.”

Fortunately, Armstrong has been able to sleep well despite he and his wife Rebecca having a 19-month old son Axel — although they are expecting their second child, a daughter, in March.

Not only was relegation a tough pill to swallow — but also seeing some top talent leave St Mary’s

The departures of Romeo Lavia (Chelsea), James Ward-Prowse (West Ham) and Tino Livramento (Newcastle) were the highest profile — while Nathan Tella, who enjoyed a brilliant last season on loan in the Championship at Burnley, landed himself a move to current Bundesliga leaders Borussia Leverkusen.

But rather than mourning the loss of Premier League football and their star players, Armstrong believes that must serve as extra motivation for those left behind.

He said: “This summer was the worst I’ve had. When we first came back for pre-season, we didn’t have a manager either.

“Then some of the lads had to leave. Some deserve to be in the top division because of what they’ve done but we do miss them.

“Yet the squad we have right now must live up to that.

“We need to get to where those boys got to — and that is the Premier League. The pinnacle is what we must strive for.”

Armstrong has had two previous stabs at the top-flight. Along with the two campaigns he had with Saints, he also had his breakthrough season with his beloved boyhood club Newcastle.

And he said: “I’ve played under five different managers in the Premier League — Alan Pardew and John Carver at Newcastle then Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nathan Jones and Ruben Seles at Southampton.

“You learn so much when you’re experiencing so many different playing styles and ways of working under various managers.

“And the Premier League is the best in the world for a reason. You’re up against world-class players every week and you’re getting punished if you’re not on your game.

“The biggest thing is confidence. You’ve got to put away your chances at that level because they’re few and far between. 

“Since dropping back to the Championship, I understand how big it is to play in the Premier League and I want to get back there with Southampton.”