As some of the Rangers press is today reporting, Ibrox stalwart John Souttar was proclaimed Man of the Match at Hampden for Scotland against the mighty Portugal, especially impressive giving Rangers’ stopper was marking superstar Ronaldo.

Limiting the Portuguese legend to very few clear-cut chances, Souttar had an outstanding night in Mount Florida, putting in by far his strongest performance for the national side.

He certainly had his hands full in this one, featuring the Madeira-born football heavyweight and the rest of the Seleção strikeforce, but coped superbly well, earning the EE MOTM for the clash.

Only recently Ibrox Noise described Souttar as good but not great, and not quite at the standard of Rangers defenders of yesteryear, so this was a good way for the ex-Hearts man to go some way towards proving us wrong, even though we are actually huge admirers of the 28-year-old.

No, he had a great night, snuffing Ronaldo out, and his stats read:

5 clearances, a blocked shot and a tackle, winning two aerials. He also made 46 touches.

It was a very solid performance from the former Dundee United man, showing his abilities at their best, and certainly it helps that he’s managing an excellent run of fitness, given how his Rangers career was horrendously disrupted by injury at the beginning.

Today he’s a guaranteed starter at Ibrox, even if it might be coming at the expense of Nigeria’s Leon Balogun, but as long as his performances remain this consistent and reliable, no one can complain about his securing the jersey this firmly.

He will be thrilled with his display in Glasgow’s south side on Tuesday, and may just have proved a few doubters wrong.

It’s about time the boy was Scotland’s main defender.

He and Scott McKenna would be not bad as a pairing.