Rangers fans have been told David Weir will only be picked by Walter Smith if he can do the job.
The 39-year-old is set to sign a new one-year contract with the Ibrox club and his former Everton team-mate Dave Watson says Smith will never put emotions before the good of the side.
“I think that the fact that Walter has offered Davie another year’s deal and asked him to continue as club captain tells you that he is still in great shape,” Watson said in The Evening Times.
“Walter is a great manager and a thoroughly decent man but in football you can’t make judgements on sentiment and Walter would not do that.
“He will have been watching Davie every day in training and monitoring his performances and there is no way he would table another deal and ask him to wear the skipper’s armband if he had any worries about him.”
He added: “I have seen Davie play a few times for Rangers over the last couple of years and it is obvious that his reading of the game and his positional sense are superb.
“The thing is that Davie will know he doesn’t have the turn of pace he once had, but he will be able to read a play and how it is opening up to avoid being caught for pace and having to match a striker’s run.
“On top of that he has the young lad [Madjid] Bougherra playing alongside him ad they have obviously built a superb understanding together.”