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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Confident John Souttar ready for gruelling Rangers fixture schedule

John Souttar has vowed to go the distance for Rangers this season as he puts injury issues behind him.

The Ibrox centre-back, 28, has been plagued by injury issues in recent seasons but is now in the best condition in years.

Fresh off the back of starring for Scotland in Nations League duty against Croatia and then keeping Ronaldo and Co quiet at Hampden, Souttar is raring to go despite a daunting schedule at club level.

“Every footballer wants to play all the time," said Souttar. "It’s more games, less training, and that’s what it’s going to be for the next three or four months.

“I feel in a really good spot physically that I can do that, and I’m looking forward to all the games.

“It’s the games that you want to play. We all want to play in the big nights and play in games which means a lot, and I think every game for the rest of the season will be.”

Rangers face Kilmarnock on Sunday in a return to league action before taking on FCSB in Europa League action with midweek matches for the next three weeks.

Quizzed on whether he is playing the best football in his career to date, the ex-Hearts and Dundee United stopper said: “It’s probably the longest spell that I’ve had.


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“I’m 28 now and my body is in a good position to play these games. You need to play every three days if you want to play consistently for Rangers in defence.

“I feel that I’m in a good spot just now. A lot of it is about growing up as well and your body handling playing every three days.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve changed anything specifically, but I’m just doing all I can off the pitch to make sure I can produce every three days."

Souttar has developed a strong defensive understanding with Robin Propper as the preferred centre-back pairing under Philippe Clement and is confident that will continue to improve.

"I feel comfortable next to him," Souttar said of summer signing Propper. "He was straight in, we've had some good games and some games we could have done better.

"But as with all partnerships, it has taken time to get the camaraderie together. It will always improve with time."

Asked about his contract situation following suggestions of talks over a new deal, Souttar responded: "To be honest I just leave that to people behind the scenes.

"I have not taken much to do with that. I am just concentrating on playing every single week and training hard every day and preparing for the big month we have got coming up."

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