John Souttar injury latest as Rangers defender reports for Scotland duty

JOHN SOUTTAR has reported to the Scotland national team’s headquarters in Glasgow ahead of the nation’s European Championship qualifiers against Norway and Georgia.

The Rangers defender was ruled out of Steve Clarke‘s side’s training camp in Spain through injury and concerns grew over the centre-back’s availability for the upcoming crunch double header.

Souttar was sidelined for majority of the season after an ankle problem kept him out of the Light Blues team for seven months following his switch from Hearts last summer.

The 26-year-old returned in March and featured 11 times for Michael Beale‘s men before the end of the campaign and earned himself a recall into Clarke’s national team with his form.

The Tartan Army already need to live without Norwich defender Grant Hanley as an injury kept him from meeting his national team-mates this month while Southampton forward Che Adams has stayed at home too.

Souttar now faces a race against time to be fit for the side’s trip to Oslo for their clash with Erling Haaland‘s Norway.

He will be assessed by staff ahead of the match but it’s suggested that they are hopeful he will be fit to play.

It would be a huge blow for the Scots with Clarke’s side hopeful of maintaining their 100 per cent record from the opening two Group A fixtures.

The manager has other options available to him should Souttar be unavailable with Ryan Porteous, Jack Hendry, Kieran Tierney, Dominic Hyam and Ross McCrorie all called up.

Liam Cooper and Nathan Patterson are also doubts and were left out of the training camp too but both could return in time for the trip to Norway.

Discussing the fitness of the three defenders last week, Clarke said: “They couldn’t be with us this week but they’re with their clubs, working hard on their fitness, and we’ll give them every chance to be ready to join us next week in Glasgow.

“We’ve got good cover in all positions and that’s why I picked a slightly larger squad than I normally would.”

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