JOHN Souttar believes there’s a hunger in the Rangers squad as the players ramp up pre-season preparations in Germany this week.
It has been a busy off-season for the defender, who was involved in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad as they continued their impressive start to their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
With focus now back to Rangers, Souttar is looking forward to getting a full-pre-season under his belt ahead of the 2023/24 season.
Speaking exclusively to RangersTV at the training camp, he said: “For me it is the first time in a couple of years I will have had a proper pre-season where I am feeling fit and feeling 100 percent.
“It gives you a base for the rest of the season, you are not catching up with the lads or feeling like you are behind, you are right on it so this next week or two will give me a great base to hopefully have an injury-free season, so I am looking forward to it.
“It is always the case at Rangers, but even more so now with the amount of quality that has been brought in and I think everyone is aware of that. There are only eleven jerseys for the first game of the season so everyone is going to be fighting for it and that can only be a good thing going forward.”
Souttar feels the training camp will be key for the squad as they use the time to bond both on and off the pitch.
He continued: “It has got a slightly different feel to it with the new players coming in and I am looking forward to seeing them all in training. These few weeks are massive, especially when there are new boys coming in, they are getting a feel for the club and how everyone gets on - off the pitch is as important as on it.
“Especially in pre-season, getting to know everyone's characters, what they are like and what pushes them, so it is good, and everyone is going to enjoy getting away and enjoy creating bonds.
Looking back on the most recent international break which saw Souttar make his first appearance for his country in just over a year, the 26-year-old believes it was a good way to end the season on a personal level.
He continued: “It is brilliant, it is a great time for the national team just now and we have put ourselves in an incredible position to qualify for the Euros. The two games were brilliant in the summer there and long may it continue.
“It was a nice way to finish the season for me, obviously I had that tough spell at the start of the year and coming back towards the end I was just getting myself back into the swing of things, playing games every week and feeling part of it so to finish it off with an appearance for my country was good and it is something I want to keep striving for this season."