John Souttar has been backed to bounce back from a tough start at Rangers against Livingston and become a mainstay for the Light Blues.
Joel Nouble gave him a torrid time on his Premiership debut with Rangers, beating him multiple times, one such battle leading to the Lions' opening goal. Giovanni van Bronckhorst's men eventually responded and got a 2-1 win win ahead of this weekend's match at home versus Kilmarnock, but Souttar was absent from their 2-0 Champions League third round qualifier first leg against Union-Saint Gilloise. Former Ibrox boss Alex McLeish worked with the recruit from Hearts during his time as Scotland national team manager and knows his quality.
A shaky start was had there too but a strong mentality that has overcame multiple serious injuries can cope with McLeish told Football Insider: “I was responsible for giving the player his debut for Scotland and he was sent off in a game against Israel for two bookings.
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“He’s a young guy, he is still young. He still doesn’t have every answer to every question but he will know what is required at Rangers.
“That’s what happens at Rangers, one game and everyone writes you off. He’s a passer of the ball and a decent stalwart defender, he played well against Rangers in last year’s final.
“Defenders, when they make a mistake, it leads to something devastating, like a goal to the opposition. You don’t often get away with mistakes so he has to have the mentality to play for Rangers and I think he has that.”
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