John Souttar knows Rangers rules in race to star for Scotland and what makes Clement tick

Four into two doesn’t go. And for Rangers’ No.5, that creates a problem when it comes round to Euro 2024.

John Souttar desperately wants to be in Scotland’s squad for next summer’s European Championships in Germany. But right now, the 27-year-old is fighting to nail down a place in the Ibrox first-team under Philippe Clement. And Souttar knows that if he’s not playing at club level, it will make it difficult for Steve Clarke to select him for his country. The centre-back is in a four-way battle at Rangers for a starting slot with defensive rivals Connor Goldson, Ben Davies and Leon Balogun.

Souttar slotted in beside Davies for Thursday night’s 1-1 Europa League draw with Aris Limassol with Goldson suspended and Balogun ineligible. But come 3pm today in Govan? There’s every chance Souttar might be back on the bench for the visit of St Mirren in the Premiership.

That level of competition is why he joined Rangers from Hearts last year. And Souttar says he CAN convince Clement that he’s good enough to be one of his two main centre-halves. He said: “Everywhere on the pitch here is quite heavily stocked.

“If you’re not performing, you’re out. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re young or old, the gaffer will just take you off or he won’t play you. If you’re playing well, you’ll stay in. But he also wants to rotate and you’ve seen recently players coming in and different players going out. I know that if I play well, I’ll play and I think it’s a trust thing with him.

“I’m confident in myself (that I can nail down a spot). But it’s up to the manager. At a big club like Rangers, you’re not going to play in every single game. You just need to be ready to come back. It takes time to get into a rhythm but when you’re in,