JOHN Souttar has stressed that nobody at Rangers will be getting carried away with their 3-2 victory over Celtic at Parkhead today and admitted he still feels a sense of frustration they will finish the season trophyless.
Souttar and his team mates were outstanding in the William Hill Premiership match against their city rivals in the East End of Glasgow this afternoon and deservedly ran out winners thanks to Nicolas Raskin, Mohammed Diomande and Hamza Igamane goals.
However, the Scotland centre-half confessed that he was annoyed the Govan outfit, who are still 13 points behind the defending champions, had been unable to perform at such a high level throughout the 2024/25 campaign
He is hopeful that Rangers can go further in the Europa League under caretaker manager Barry Ferguson and give a better account of themselves domestically next term.
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"It was a good feeling,” he said. “It was obviously frustrating losing two goals. It’s always nice to get a win late on, especially with the fans back in. So it’s a good feeling.
"Obviously Thursday (the Europa League last 16 game against Fenerbahce) took a lot out of us. We gave everything there. But we knew we had to do it again. That’s what you have to do if you play for a club like Rangers. We did. It’s important going forward that we keep doing that.
"Over the last week we’ve had three big results, but that’s all it is really. We have to find consistency throughout the season. There’s no point dwelling on today and getting too far ahead of ourselves. We have to enjoy today because we deserve it, but that’s as far as it goes.
"We have a lot to prove even domestically. We need to keep that consistency. We’ve had big results before in the league and we’ve not backed it up. On the European front, it’s a great opportunity for us. I think Thursday kept the season going and you saw how Ibrox was, so the more nights we can have like that the better.
"The season brings a lot of frustration, but it makes us not get carried away with this one result because there’s no point in doing it on a one-off. You need to keep doing it through the season.”
"The gaffer is big on character, creating that winning mentality, knowing what it is to play for Rangers,” he said. “He’s been there, he’s done that, so you need to listen. He’s drilling that into us every single day.
"The need for consistency is what the gaffer’s been drilling in to us, how important the league games are. It’s something we need to put our foot on. These (derby) games take care of themselves.
"That (whether Ferguson stays on as manager) is out of my hands, but all I can say is that I’m enjoying working under him and all the players are as well.”
Souttar was devastated when he picked up a booking on Thursday night which ruled him out of the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao next month – but the defender is still optimistic Rangers can extend their European run.
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"It’s a killer,” he said. “Obviously you want to play those massive games at Ibrox. It’ll be an unbelievable occasion, but its one of these things. I would rather we got through and I was suspended than we didn’t.”
Rangers captain James Tavernier was singled out for abuse following the Ibrox club’s 3-0 defeat at Parkhead back in September – but the defender was involved in the opening two goals this afternoon and Souttar was delighted for him.
"It’s what the skipper is,” he said. “He never hides no matter what position the club is and how they’re performing. He gets asked to play in multiple positions and he’s been outstanding the past three games. He’s someone who everyone in the dressing room respects greatly.”
