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Rangers defender Souttar should replace Man Utd’s McTominay says Bartley

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Rangers’ John Souttar should come in to replace Scott McTominay for Scotland against Armenia, said Livingston coach Marvin Bartley.

The Caucasus nation visit Hampden on Wednesday evening with the hosts seeking to bounce back following the World Cup playoff disappointment against Ukraine last week.

On that occasion, Steve Clarke’s side failed to rise to the challenge, leading to calls for changes in the team Bartley agrees, as told to Football Scotland:

“…While I know Souttar was injured towards the back end of the season although played in the cup final, I’d like to see him come back in. I think he’s a fantastic defender.”

“He offers all that McTominay does in terms of driving forward with the ball in possession but I think he’s also a better defender, a natural defender.”

Progress

Whilst plenty of players are clearly running on empty across the spectrum of these Nations League games, that worry of fatigue should not apply to the recent arrival at Ibrox. His situation, as ever, will need to be carefully managed but his preparation in the build up to the Scottish Cup Final, for Hearts, appeared to be very good as was the performance he returned.

One or two appearances for Scotland over the trio of games in the next week is likely for Souttar if indeed Clarke does decide to shuffle his pack, something he hinted at earlier on Tuesday:

“I think there are people in the squad who deserve the chance to play over the next three games and hopefully you’ll see that.”

“Going into the first game (against Armenia), we’ve had seven days rest since the last game so it’s not so important in this one in terms of resting people. But over the course of the next six days we’ve got three games and a lot of travel, a long flight to Armenia, so I’ll need to use the squad.”

Some game time and further progress from injury would be welcomed for John Souttar, but hopefully the next week is a stress free period for the central defender ahead of a much needed break, prior to the launch of his Ibrox career later this month.

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