The Rangers star that HAS to be in Germany as starting XI spot nailed down by his swooning admirer

Lee McCulloch reckons 'big-game' John Souttar is READY to start for Scotland at Euro 2024.

The Rangers defender is back to full fitness and has been key member of Philippe Clement's backline at club level alongside Connor Goldson. The former Hearts man is keeping the likes of Leon Balogun, Ben Davies and Leon King out of the Ibrox starting team with former club skipper McCulloch insisting he's one of the best in the Scottish leagues.

McCulloch - helping the launch of a July friendly between Manchester United and Rangers at Murrayfield - coached Souttar during his time at Tynecastle before he earned his move to Glasgow and the ex-Jambos No2 reckons the 27-year-old is ready to push for a spot in Steve Clarke's XI. He impressed Jig in last week's Europa League defeat to Benfica and has shown he can be an asset in both starting attacks from the back and defending his own box.

McCulloch said: "John Souttar, without a shadow of a doubt, is back to a level where he's good enough to start for Scotland. I think John has kicked on since he got into the Rangers team.

"Any time he gets an injury it knocks him back, but if John gets a run of games, which he showed with Hearts and he's now showing with Rangers, he's a big-game player. He's got confidence in his ability and he's a humble, hard-working guy.

"He's one of the best defenders in the league with the ball at his feet and he can also defend the box. I thought he was arguably the best player on the pitch in the home game against Benfica last week.

"When you see the level he's at now, you just wonder where he'd be if he hadn't had all those injuries."