Stuart Armstrong insists the entire Scotland squad will support Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor when he captains the national side for the first time this week.

Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson was recently confirmed as Scotland’s captain but he has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming fixtures.

Kieran Tierney, who would usually take over the leadership role, is also unavailable so Alex McLeish has turned to McGregor. The Celtic star will captain Scotland for their opening Euro 2020 Qualifier with Kazakhstan on Thursday.

McGregor has established himself as a leader with Celtic this term and Armstrong expects him to show the same sort of qualities with Scotland.

“It’s disappointing to have Andy out but I think the squad as a whole is a good one in terms of depth and Callum is taking on the captaincy. I have played with him for many years so I know his abilities as a leader and the team has a lot of respect for him,” Armstrong said.

“He is very organised. Sometimes you play with players who are natural leaders on the pitch who spur the team on, not so much vocally but naturally with their play.

Callum is definitely one of those players. He has a lot of respect in that sense.

“He is very good technically too. The team are delighted that he is going to be leading the nation as it were. It’s a great honour for Callum.”

Scotland can be backed at 2.00 to make a winning start to their Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign, while Kazakhstan are priced at 4.00 to come out on top, and the draw is available at 3.20.