Connor Goldson admitted he is "so scared" about losing his spot at Rangers BEFORE being benched for the Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts.
The Ibrox defender was dropped to the bench for the Hampden showdown - but Phillipe Clement insisted the centre-back was simply being rested.
Clement had planned to give Goldson a rest against Dundee in midweek before the Hampden clash but illness for Leon Balogun saw plans altered.
And the Rangers manager then chose Balogun - alongside John Souttar - as his centre-back pairing for the Scottish Cup semi-final.
Now, Goldson has revealed he is always in fear of losing his spot - in a podcast recorded before the Hampden clash - at Rangers and therefore ensures he outworks his competition.
The defender told the Talking Transitions podcast: "Even now I am so scared about someone coming in and taking my place, so scared.
"I've always had the thing of not letting anyone work harder than me.
"Lucky we come from such a grounding of lower leagues. You come through it at lower leagues."
READ MORE: Rangers' Goldson reveals international approach he turned down
While Clement defended Goldson being rested, Ibrox hero Ally McCoist disputed the narrative as he claimed: "I think you are being very kind saying he [Goldson] was rested - I think he was dropped.
"You don't rest people for semi-finals."
Goldson, 31, then revealed his ambition to keep playing until he's 38 years old.
He said: "It's easy to be good for a few years or a few games. But realistically, I'm now 31. I want to play until I'm 38, and why can't you? I watched Porto the other day, Pepe is 41 playing in the Champions League, playing for his national team still. It's possible.
"Don't get me wrong, do I enjoy a night out every now and again? Yes, but that's had to scale back to only certain points in the season, an international break. Do I have a takeaway after games? Yeah, but then for the other side days, I'll eat healthily.
"From a younger age, I've seen the bigger picture and if I do the majority of the things right now, hopefully when I'm 35, 36 my body will repay me."
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