There's one emerging Rangers good news story I needed after multiple kicks in the teeth – Barry Ferguson

Let's be honest, good news stories have been a bit thin on the ground lately around Ibrox.

For all sorts of reasons it’s been a difficult start to the season on and off the pitch and, at times, it’s felt like one kick in the teeth after the next. But amongst all the doom and gloom, one man in particular is providing my old club with a bit of a shining light. Big John Souttar has been through the ringer himself over the years with all sorts of potentially career threatening injuries.

From the day he arrived at Rangers it’s felt like he’s been fighting a constant battle just to get himself up to full speed and get some regular games under his belt. And that’s why I’m genuinely so pleased for him now that he’s finally emerging as the central defender that the rest of us always hoped he would become.

Souttar has been a real stand out for Philippe Clement since the start of the campaign - it’s fair to say he’s probably the most consistent performer in the Belgian’s squad. So there was something really satisfying about seeing him reclaim his place in Scotland ’s defence against Croatia and Portugal and reproduce that same form in a dark blue shirt.

He looked like he was destined to be an international player from his early days breaking through at Dundee United. My only concern at that time was that he might be a bit lightweight physically to make the grade as a top level centre half.

He got his move to Hearts and then came the injury problems which didn’t just interrupt his progression - they very nearly put him out of the game altogether. To suffer one ruptured achilles is bad enough for any player. But Souttar suffered the same thing three times and kept coming back for more.

That tells you a lot about his mentality