Kieran Tierney and Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong are former Celtic teammates.
Tierney, who joined Arsenal from Celtic in the summer transfer window, made the comments ahead of the Premier League game between the Gunners and the Saints at the Emirates Stadium in North London on Saturday afternoon.
Armstong was on the books of the Hoops from 2015 until 2018, when he joined Southampton for a transfer fee reported by BBC Sport to be worth £7 million.
The midfielder has struggled for regular playing time at Southampton, although injuries have played their part.
Left-back Tierney, 22, was at Celtic from 2005 until the summer of 2019 and is one of the best young players in his position in Europe.
Tierney said about Armstrong in the club’s official matchday programme, as quoted by The Daily Record: “Stuart (Armstrong) is a great player, He’s able to score a goal from a half-chance and from 20 or 30 yards, as people have seen.
“And I think he deserves a chance to play, I played alongside him at Celtic for years and also at international level with Scotland as well.
“So to see him come down here, I hope he plays and I hope he does well – but not against us right enough – but against everybody else.”
Both Tierney and Armstrong were in action in the Premier League game at the Emirates on Saturday.
It ended in a 2-2 draw, and after the match, the 27-year-old Scotland international posted a message for his former Celtic teammate on Instagram.
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