CONNOR GOLDSON has backed John Souttar to silence his Rangers critics and become an 'unbelievable signing' at Ibrox after a debut to forget against Livingston.

The former Hearts defender endured a difficult day against the Lions as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side came from behind to get their Premiership title bid off to a winning start.

Striker Joel Nouble gave Livingston the lead as he capitalised on a Souttar mistake and dinked the ball over keeper Jon McLaughlin in the first half at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

Souttar faces competition from fellow new arrival Ben Davies this term but could be handed another start for the Champions League clash with Union Saint-Gilloise as Rangers return to European action.

Goldson will be a key figure for the Scotland stopper to learn from in the coming months and the Englishman has no doubts over the impact that Souttar will make at Ibrox.

Goldson said: “He has settled in really well and I have been really, really impressed by him.

“From the first week we trained, to coming back from Portugal, you can see his qualities.

“And I was disappointed on Saturday because I saw a few things on the internet and things like that.

“People talking bad just because he’s had one game where he probably made a few mistakes. But we have all been there, I have been there myself.

“I have been written off plenty of times by Rangers fans. I see him every single day and I see the qualities he has.

“I have absolutely no doubts at all he’s going to be an unbelievable signing for this club.”

The capture of Souttar on a pre-contract deal was the first piece of the jigsaw that Van Bronckhorst put in place ahead of his first full campaign at Ibrox as he agreed his switch from Hearts in January.

But he was replaced by James Sands just 67 minutes into his league bow as goals from Scott Arfield and James Tavernier clinched a comeback victory for the Light Blues.

The USG clash could give Souttar a chance to put his Livingston struggles behind him and Goldson has been encouraged by what he has seen from the 25-year-old so far this term.

Goldson said: "Listen, he’s an international player. I think he is 25 and has played however many games in Scottish football.

"He’s a Scottish international. We know what we signed. He has joined Rangers and we all know the pressure that comes with that.

"People can’t judge people on one game. Livingston away is obviously not the easiest place to go with the pitch and the way they play.

"But we’ve all seen his quality and I’ve been more impressed just seeing him in training.

"When he was at Hearts, I knew he was a good player, but everything he does is so crisp with the ball.

"He throws himself in front of things. He is a great defender. I’m really happy we have signed him and I look forward to playing with him."