Nico Raskin is Rangers captain material says Scott Arfield as ex star insists he new Todd Cantwell was built for Ibrox

Fifty thousand sit in judgement every home game.

But Scott Arfield knows the real test of character comes for every new player in the door at Rangers long before they even kick a competitive football. He felt it from his first training session with his boyhood heroes five years ago. The 34-year-old then became one of the old heads casting their expert eye on any new arrival in the years since.

So when he says January recruits Todd Cantwell and Nico Raskin are ready to not only take Rangers onto a new level but to lead the rest on the way then it’s worth listening. Forget Captain Nemo. Former Canada skipper Arfield can see a it being Captain Nico down Ibrox way when James Tavernier finally decides to call it a day. That’s how highly he rates the Belgian who is preparing for his first full season in Light Blue alongside Cantwell.

Arfield has moved onto pastures new with a move to MLS side Charlotte last month following the expiry of his Gers contract. But he is in no doubt his boyhood club are in good shape - with Cantwell and Raskin at the heart of Michael Beale’s revolution.

He said: “Without doubt. As football players, you subconsciously judge each other. I was getting judged in my first training session here.

“How’s your touch? How’s your weight of pass? How did he get on it? Did he scan his shoulder? There are loads of little things that you look for in a football player.

“Todd was probably more in the public eye playing in England. But in terms of Nico, in his first two training sessions he was sensational.

“You could see that he is built to play at a club the size of Rangers. I can see him playing there for years.

“He is captain material. Even at such a young age, you can really lean on him.

“He takes the ball, he