John Souttar: Severity of Rangers-bound Hearts defender's ankle injury revealed as Scotland absence explained

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has allayed fears over the severity of John Souttar's ankle injury after revealing the Hearts defender is not expected to be out long-term.

The Rangers-bound centre-back – who signed a pre-contract agreement in January that will see him complete a switch to Ibrox in the summer – has been left out of Clarke’s 24-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Poland and either Wales or Austria.

Souttar was on the scoresheet in Scotland's last match – a 2-0 win over Denmark at Hampden in November that sealed a home World Cup play-off semi-final against Ukraine – after being handed a late call-up due to injuries in defence.

It was a fairytale return to the international scene for the former Dundee United stopper, who earned his fourth cap and his first since 2018 after a battling back from career-threatening Achilles injuries.

John Souttar celebrates scoring Scotland's opener in November's 2-0 win over Denmark at Hampden. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The 26-year-old is currently sidelined by an ankle knock picked up in Hearts’ recent 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice, however, the Scotland boss reported that the injury is not serious.

"John Souttar who played and scored against Denmark, has picked up an ankle injury,” Clarke said.

"Thankfully it's not serious and he should be back in a couple of weeks."

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