As Rangers manager Philippe Clement hails John Souttar for his standard of fitness, it shows just how far the Scotland hopeful has come under the Belgian.
John Souttar, 27, has had his entire career besieged by injury problems and since moving to Rangers in the summer of 2022, has toiled with issues at Ibrox.
But having made only 12 Scottish Premiership appearances in total last season, the defender has started 11 of the club’s last 14 matches in the Scottish top flight.
Speaking after the Scottish Cup win over Hibs, Philippe Clement praised the availability of several players with John Souttar’s name standing out amongst them.
Philippe Clement praises John Souttar’s fitness
When Philippe Clement first came into Rangers, he said it would take time for him to reinforce an Ibrox squad which continues to be decimated by injury.
But in John Souttar, Ibrox fans have gotten a glimpse into the work and management of a player’s fitness which the ex-AS Monaco manager alluded to earlier in the season.
Even going as far as to name John Souttar in a list of reliably fit players in the squad, it’s not something we’d have imagined six months ago.
“I think it’s very clear for everybody if you look now and four months ago there’s a huge change in that,” said Clement, lining up a dig on ex-Rangers manager Michael Beale.
“We are not there where I want them to be but for that I need the preparation, what they missed, clearly.
“Because still people are falling out, coming back, and others falling out. So there are only a few players in the squad who are ready for what I want.
“That’s a competitive team who’s there every three days with that intensity. So I have a few, like Connor (Goldson), John (Souttar), (John) Lundstram, (James) Tavernier, are proving that and there are a few players growing in that way.
“I want the total squad to be ready but for that you need more training which I cannot do now for the moment because we have all these games.”
Is Rangers defender here to stay?
That John Souttar falls into the category of club stalwarts like James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, and John Lundstram in the mind of Philippe Clement speaks volumes about the progress the Rangers star had made in his injury recovery.
There was a time when Rangers fans were asking if the ex-Hearts defender’s injury record stretching all the way back to his time at Dundee United made the decision to sign Souttar a wise one.
But since the return of football after the winter break, John Souttar has been an ever-present for Rangers and is front and centre in the club’s treble charge.
The likes of Ben Davies and Leon Balogun remain sidelined after injury, both back in the matchday squads but unable to shift Souttar from the club’s XI.
It’s not just John Souttar who stands to benefit either.
Could Connor Goldson – after six years chopping and changing with different centre-back options at Rangers – have finally found his defensive partner at Ibrox?
