Rangers supervisor Russell Martin expects John Souttar to be match for the Champions League qualifier towards Panathinaikos after the defender had a “minor operation”.
Souttar so he may characteristic for Scotland of their end-of-season pleasant double-header. The 28-year-old began the defeat by towards Iceland and was an unused substitute within the win over Liechtenstien.
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Rangers host Panathinaikos in a second-round qualifier on 22-23 July, with the return leg in Greece the next week.
“John decided. He had a little bit of minor harm, he wished to go and play as a result of he is determined to play for his nation which I like,” Martin informed Sky Sports activities.
“So the plan was right here, and everybody was conscious of it, to get sorted after that so he has had a minor operation.
“We anticipate him to be match for the Panathinaikos recreation so it hasn’t actually affected preparations.”
Rangers open the league season with a visit to face Motherwell and Martin mentioned: “It is [a win] actually necessary for us, for the supporters, for the membership, but additionally it isn’t going to outline our season.
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“So we’ve got to guarantee that we’re able to carry out within the European recreation earlier than that, we’ve got to ensure we’re then prepared once more to go.
“We now have a number of work to do bodily and tactically. The gamers have not even been within the constructing but, they arrive again on Monday which I am actually enthusiastic about, however now we’ve got one thing to actually work in the direction of and it may be nice.”
Motherwell’s new boss Jens Berthel Askou is a former Norwich Metropolis team-mate of Martin.
“We have exchanged messages this morning,” mentioned Martin.
“Understanding Jens and the way intense he was about his work as a participant and the way he’s as an individual, critically skilled, clever, he’ll have them very properly organised and ready so we’ve got to ensure we’re prepared for any problem.”