Don't think the manager agrees

“I think one of Russell’s biggest strengths, and it’s quite unique nowadays, back in the day it used to be quite common, is that he affects other players,” Neil said of his skipper.

“The people around him, his right-back, his left centre-back, his guys in front of him, he’s got a real determination to be successful and to win.

“I think you need that in your group because it’s all fine and well nowadays as a player to take care of that wee square bit that you play in but if you can have an influence on people around you, that can be as much of a strength as anything else.

“Russell certainly does that for us so I think his presence is missed when he’s not in the team and like I’ve said to him, at times he doesn’t even need to play that well to make sure he influences the other guys next to him and that’s a strength that is difficult to come across.

“I think you always want a few lieutenants on the pitch that you know when the going gets tough a little bit you can turn to and you can rely on them to help on the pitch because there’s only so much you can do when the game starts from the side.

“You can talk to them beforehand but there may be an incident that happens that’s unpredictable or unforeseen and it’s up to them how they do on the pitch.

“Sometimes having strong characters or leaders on there really does make a difference because the rest of your team feed off that.”

Posted By: Tricky Hawes, Sep 23, 11:49:10