Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin has played down the hype surrounding Rangers defender Olwethu Makhanya after the 22-year-old was compared to Virgil van Dijk and John Stones.
Makhanya has made a strong start to life at Ibrox following his summer move from MLS outfit Philadelphia Union for around £3million. The South Africa international has formed a solid defensive partnership with Emmanuel Fernandez and has helped Rangers win seven consecutive matches in all competitions, keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Nevin: People getting carried away
Speaking to CasinoHawks, Nevin said: "People have been getting a bit carried away. I've heard the words 'John Stones', I've heard the words 'Virgil van Dijk'. Look, it's early days. It's really, really early."
"But, yeah, he does look as if he is one of the answers that they needed at the moment. And, again, Scottish football is interesting because a lot of decent players, good players come to Scottish football and take a while to settle."
Winter test ahead
Nevin, who played for Chelsea and Everton during his career, added: "I mean, I remember coming back up near the end of my career and thinking, 'This'll be all right, this'll be easy. I've been playing at the top level in England.' Then you thought, 'Is anyone going to slow down for a minute? Is anyone actually going to go and make intelligent, different runs?' Or it was just mad."
"It's extreme up here. It's a different type of football. But he seems to have just walked into it, cruised into it. But, yeah, hold on, just give it a while."
"You know, the winter is coming, a lot of players find it different and difficult over the entirety of a Scottish season, especially when there's one or two mistakes or things go badly."
McInnes building from Makhanya
Nevin concluded: "At the moment, yeah, he looks like one of the ones Derek McInnes is going to build the base from."
Rangers currently sit two points behind Celtic in the Premiership table. They can leapfrog their rivals with a victory away to Dundee on Saturday night, before Celtic face Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday.
