John Souttar: For me to get first Rangers goal was massive

​The centre-back joined the Light Blues from Hearts last summer but came off on his debut against Livingston last July with a stress fracture of his ankle which caused him to miss the bulk of the campaign.

After Todd Cantwell fired the home side ahead in the fifth minute, Souttar, who returned to fitness in March, got his head to a James Tavernier corner to open his account for the club.

Striker Fashion Sakala added a third after the break to give Rangers their first win of the season against the cinch Premiership champions.

The 26-year-old Scotland international told RangersTV: “It was class, it is something we work on with (first-team coach) Harry (Watling) to attack that front post and drag them in and thankfully we did that.

“It was a great delivery from the skipper and I was there to put it in.

“It has been a tough season for me and when you are injured you just think about those kinds of moments and almost dream of scoring in those moments, so for me to get that goal was massive and I really enjoyed it.

“I think it was a big day for everyone, individually and collectively, to finish out what has been a tough season to get the three points and the clean sheet.

“We started really aggressively, we started on the front foot, and I think that is when we are at our best.

“The crowd got behind us and the atmosphere got behind us and it really drove us on.

“We’ve got great attacking players, I thought they were really good, so I thought if we could keep a clean sheet and keep solid we had every chance of winning the game and thankfully we did.”

Michael Beale, who enjoyed his first win over Celtic in five attempts since taking over from Giovanni van Bronckhorst as Gers boss last November, was pleased to see Souttar make a positive impact after a wayward pass back in the last Old Firm league match in April proved costly in a 3-2 defeat.

He said: “I’m delighted for John after the injury hell he has gone through both at his previous club and during his time at Rangers.

“It’s been extremely different for him and people have said things about someone without actually knowing the situation.

“John’s back. He has played with Connor (Goldson) and put on a really strong performance.

“Obviously he has scored and probably got over that little mistake he made in the last one so I’m pleased for him.”

With three fixtures remaining Rangers are 10 points behind the Hoops, who will clinch the treble if they beat Inverness in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park.

Beale rebuffed the notion that the result was any sort of warning.

“No, I don’t think they need that,” he added. “I think they’ll try and improve and we will too.

“We are the team with the most to improve aren’t we?

“I think over the course of the season we deserved today.”