The Rangers player using summer heartache to benefit his club career

John Souttar knows he has little time to feel sorry for himself after what happened to him at the start of the summer.

Following a successful season with Rangers, where the defender became a regular feature under manager Philippe Clement, he picked up an injury just as the campaign was coming to its conclusion. He managed to get fit enough to make the provisional Scotland squad for the European Championship but was one of the two unfortunate players to miss the cut.

It was the second time in his career that Souttar has missed out on a major international tournament – he was injured for the delayed Euro 2020 championship – but the 27-year-old centre-half has put the focus firmly back on club football. He has a job to do at Rangers and their preparations continued for the new season with a 2-0 friendly defeat by Manchester United at Murrayfield.

“Obviously it was disappointing not to be involved at the Euros," admitted Souttar. “But then again it was good for my body to get a break. I played a lot of football last year and this has been the first time I’ve really had the chance to have that break and let my body recover from last year. So I’m feeling good and looking forward to the start of the season.

John Souttar is eyeing a big season at Rangers. | SNS Group

“I wouldn’t call what happened a blessing. But looking back maybe it will be a good thing getting that rest and letting my body recover because I played a lot of football compared to previous years. So fingers crossed on the long run I’ll be looking back thinking it was a good thing.

“I was obviously part of the training camp so I was close. I was as close as you can be. But it was a decision, one way or the other, that I wasn’t to be involved. Again, that’s football and I’ll handle that and move forward and hopefully continue to get better.

“It’s part of football. There are going to be disappointments whether it’s in games or life. There are going to be disappointments and it’s about how you handle that. Then how you bounce back from it. It just motivated me to get better. I spent the summer looking back on my season and looking at improving where I can.

“Last year was a big year for me to play as much football as I did. I got my confidence back in my body and now this year is about kicking on. I want to play as much football as I can, get fitter with every game, and take things from there.”

Souttar wasn't picked for Scotland's Euro 2024 squad. | SNS Group

Rangers have two further pre-season matches against Birmingham City and Union Berlin before the action kicks off for real against Hearts on August 3 in the Premiership.

“I’ve been part of pre-season when you think you’re flying, or times when you think you’re not,” continued Souttar. “And then it goes the opposite way when the season starts. It’s so hard to judge in pre-season when people don’t see the training you do.

“The games are good when there are a lot of fans. But they can become quite false because boys have got fatigue in their legs. Maybe you can press for 20 minutes but when the season starts it’s normal to do it for 70, 80, 90 minutes.

“You need that fatigue to work back to full fitness. But we’ll be in good shape in two weeks.”