Danny Armstrong reveals Wolves exit hell and the boss who saved Kilmarnock star's career after free agency wilderness

Training with Diogo Jota at Wolves one minute.

Unemployed and wondering if you’ll kick a ball again the next. From being the sought-after kid to the player no one wants. Margins are fine for a footballer. And no one knows that better than Danny Armstrong. There’s a reason he’s Kilmarnock’s best player. And it’s not just his undoubted ability.

Armstrong is willing to graft and that all comes from the experiences he has gone through in his career. He was a prodigious talent as a youngster at Hamilton Accies. At 17, he was training with Mark Warburton’s Rangers side in the hope of landing a deal. Eventually, he made the life-changing move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Championship on a three-year deal.

Under gaffer Kenny Jackett, he was challenging for a first-team spot. But a year later the club was taken over by Fosun International –Chinese billionaires. And things would never be the same again.

For young players like Armstrong it would be nigh-impossible to break through. Especially when the likes of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and future Liverpool star Jota arrived. Armstrong could have gone to Wolves’ new feeder club, Spanish third division outfit FC Jumilla.

But on the advice of former Premier League star Scott Sellars, who was technical director at Molineux, he left the Midlands in search of regular games. When a move to Coventry City fell through, he expected the offers to keep coming. But they didn’t.

He endured six months in limbo. No club, no money, no future. And then – without exaggeration –John McGlynn saved his career. Moves from Raith Rovers to Ross County and back again came before he found his way to Rugby Park.

And Armstrong won’t forget the journey in a hurry. In an exclusive interview