Philippe Clement identifies 'massive' Rangers reference point, addresses Hampden boos and has say on Celtic final

Philippe Clement felt Rangers’ win over Motherwell could be hugely significant in the course of their season as they booked a Premier Sports Cup final date with Celtic.

Goals from Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami overturned Andy Halliday’s first-half opener and booked Rangers’ return to Hampden on December 15. The result also eases some of the pressure that had been building on Clement following recent league losses to Kilmarnock and Aberdeen and the Belgian wanted to use his team’s performance – in the second half especially – as a template for what he expects from them over the remainder of the campaign.

He said: “We got where we want to be, which is the final. We had that amazing feeling together with the fans last season and we can battle for that again. That was the aim of today and it’s also a well-deserved victory in that way. But this needs to also be a reference for this new squad. To do what we did a lot last season which is to dig in and in every situation keep our belief, keep on going, keep on fighting and to break the wall if we go behind. 

Rangers manager Philippe Clement during the 2-1 win over Motherwell at Hampden in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

“This can be a massive game at the end of the season to have as a reference. I want to see this mentality every three days. That's what we've been talking about but talking is not enough. We need to do it on the pitch. [The margin of victory] should have been more. That I want to see much more in the coming weeks and months.”

Clement, who will assess Tom Lawrence’s quad injury over the coming days, revealed he could sense nerves among his players at half-time, something he attributed partially to the scoreline and partially to the team being booed off.

“I was calm because I felt that the team was really nervous at half-time and they needed confidence to push to get the 10 to 15% more needed to get the win today,” he added. “It's probably both [the score and the booing for why they seemed nervous]. But the most important thing is we have so many guys where it's the first time in this kind of environment.

“They need to go through these moments also to become stronger as a person, as a player. And that's why it's really important to have things like today. That they live this and that they see with hard work, with digging in, with staying [together], with staying positive, that you will get your reward at the end. Maybe not every time, but the times will be much more than we had until now.”

Rangers captain James Tavernier was subbed after 65 minutes of the Premier Sports Cup final win over Motherwell at Hampden. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Clement, who chose not to address another poor performance from captain James Tavernier who was substituted, admitted he could not have handpicked a tougher mission in the final. He added: “It's a big challenge. The biggest in Scotland. That's also a good thing. It's the next step to take to win this League Cup again.”

Stuart Kettlewell felt his players had given their all over an undulating 90 minutes. “I'm not going to be sitting here criticising the players because when you see them slumped to their knees at the end, that wasn't disappointment, that was exhaustion,” said the Motherwell manager. “They've put so much in. I can't ask any more from them on that front.”