ACES IN PACK ALL ALONG

The jury was out, but defensive duo have proved early doubters wrong

- SCOTT MCDERMOTT

RIGHT, it's confession time.

Although, to be fair, we're all guilty of it in Scottish football. Especially when it comes to the Old Firm.New players arrive at Rangers or Celtic and within roughly 48 seconds of their debut we make snap judgments.

One stray pass and they're a dud. A dodgy first touch and they're a waste of money.

Unfortunately, it's par for the course at Ibrox or Parkhead.

In a way, that pressure to perform and demand to deliver from the off is what makes playing in Glasgow unique. But sometimes you can jump the gun too early.

And that can lead to decent players being written off before they've had a chance to prove themselves.

At the start of this season, Nasser Djiga and Emmanuel Fernandez were two of Rangers' big summer signings.

One, a £2.5million purchase of potential from Peterborough with a promise of future profit.

The other, a coup for the club after snapping up a £10m centre-back from Premier League outfit Wolves.

But it's fair to say, pretty early on, the jury was out on both of them.

Djiga was thrown in at the deep end straight away. Sent off in a home draw with Dundee. Bedraggled in Bruges during a 6-0 Champions League rout. Then hooked at halftime in an Ibrox defeat to Hearts before being bombed out the side altogether.