Celtic legend Johan Mjallby reckons Rangers new boy Filip Helander can have a big part to play in the Premiership title battle.
The Sweden international has featured in the last two games for Steven Gerrard 's side after spending the majority of his first two months at Ibrox watching from the sidelines.
Connor Goldson and Nikola Katic were virtually immovable from the central defensive positions for the early part of the campaign and the £3 million signing from Bologna has had to bide his time.
But Mjallby compared the situation to Christopher Jullien at Celtic who was left out of the Champions League qualifying defeat to Cluj before coming in to grab his chance.
Mjallby said: “Filip is a steady centre half who reads the game well. He’s done well for Sweden when he’s played and he’s been in Italy for a number of years.
“He’s probably not the quickest but he’s steady, good in the air and decent on the ball without being really pacy. He needs to bide his time.
“Even if players are supposed to be top players they need time to get bedded in.
"At Celtic the Cluj game was probably too early for Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli and Helander has to bide his time.
“And now Filip’s chance has come he's ready. Age-wise and mentality-wise he’s strong enough. He’s quite aggressive and he’ll definitely be suited to Scottish football.
“These days we all think central defenders should be like Manchester City’s but it’s all about being a proper defender - and Helander is.”
