Connor Goldson earns Rangers credit from within as selfless act underlines what he's all about

At six foot and three inches, lofty Leon Balogun stands every bit as tall as titanic team-mate Connor Goldson.

But the returning Rangers defender happily concedes he was left having to fill some pretty big boots when he stepped in to replace the Ibrox stalwart at Hampden. For the first time in his six year stay in Scotland, Goldson found himself a member of the Light Blues bomb squad as he was dropped for Gers’ Scottish Cup semi-final with Hearts.

The 31-year-old paid the price for two lacklustre displays in Dingwall and at Dens Park which have blown a huge hole in Ibrox hopes of a Premiership title push this term. But while Goldson was consigned to a seat on the bench, Balogun insists that did not stop the club’s vice-captain from standing firm in the build-up to the last-four shoot out as he insisted upon playing his usual role at the national stadium as one of the team’s leading voices.

It would have been easy for the big defender to skulk off and spend the warm-up limbering up with the rest of the subs. Instead, Goldson kept his head high as he joined with the starters while they went through their preparations, adding his pre-match pep talk on the pitch to the words of encouragement he’d already shared in the changing room. It was left to Balogun to take on Goldson’ in-game duties and the Nigeria international was just relieved he was able to match his old partner’s normally high standards.

“Connor is brilliant,” declared the 35-year-old. “He always is, whether he is playing or not. In terms of shoe size, I almost make it up to him! But it's big boots to fill and I feel like a lot of the time, he doesn't always get the credit he deserves. He is always vital and in terms of his communication on and off the pitch, his