Danny Rohl wants to see John Souttar commit his long-term future to Rangers as he stressed the need to have leaders in his squad.

The 29-year-old Scotland international is out of contract in the summer but is in talks over remaining in Glasgow.

The defender is currently injured, but Rohl has seen enough in his short spell in charge to know that he’s the type of character he’ll need more of if the side is to make progress in the long-term.

‘Since I have been here, John has been one of the core members of the team. He has helped us,’ said the German, ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Ferencvaros in Hungary.

‘He has experience in this league. He knows what it means to play Saturday to Thursday, he knows how to play at places like Kilmarnock.

‘This is important because he knows what it means to play for Rangers.

‘We need a core of the group, we need leaders who have experience. You can build young players around them.

‘Let’s see what direction it goes. There has been a clear signal from our side.

‘Hopefully he will be back soon because we know the situation with the centre backs at the moment.’

Rangers have a huge task on their hands as they try to make the knockout round of this year’s Europa League.

Sitting with just one point from five games, Rohl’s men need to win their three remaining fixtures starting tonight to stand any chance of finishing in the top 24.

‘I always believe that we can do something,’ he continued.

‘It’s important to know where we are at the moment in this competition.

‘You can’t allow one more defeat if you want to go through to the next round, so it’s important to understand that.

‘We’ll go into the game tomorrow to win and then let’s see what happens, step by step.

‘If you look at the progress since I’ve been here, we lost 3-0, 2-0 then got a draw.

‘Maybe if we continue that, we can get the first result we really want.’

Joe Rothwell hasn’t travelled to Hungary while Mohamed Diomande is suspended.