ALLY MCCOIST insists John Souttar came through the Scottish Cup final with "flying colours" ahead of his summer move to Rangers.
The Hearts defender was brought back into Robbie Neilson's side for the showpiece final against his future club.
And despite scrutiny over his performance, McCoist reckons Souttar was immense at Hampden - even if he was on the losing side of a 2-0 extra-time result.
The Scotland international will make the move from Edinburgh to Glasgow in the summer after agreeing a pre-contract move to Ibrox.
Now, McCoist is just desperate for Souttar to stay fit and put his serious injury troubles behind him as he moves to work under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Rangers hero McCoist, as quoted in the Scottish Sun, said: “I thought Souttar was immense, he was brilliant on Saturday.
“There were a couple of forward runs from him and I thought he defended superbly. The ball was like a magnet to his head for a period in the game.
“You’ve got to handle things when you move to Rangers and Celtic.
“It was a tough gig for him. He was under a lot of scrutiny, but I thought he came through it with flying colours.
“I’d like to have seen him play against a centre-forward, right enough!
“But, seriously, he dealt with it all so well. So did big Craig Halkett, another boy I know really well. But I think Souttar showed he’s more than up for the challenge. I just hope he stays fit.”
