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Philippe Clement identifies’massive’ Rangers reference point, tackles Hampden boos, and comments on Celtic final

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Rangers’ win over Motherwell, which secured a Premier Sports Cup final meeting with Celtic, was viewed by Philippe Clement as potentially vital in the course of their season.

Analysis: Rangers are facing another winter of discontent if Philippe Clement can't turn things around soon | Daily Mail Online

Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami’s goals overturned Andy Halliday’s first-half opener, securing Rangers’ return to Hampden on December 15. The result also relieves some of the pressure that had been building on Clement following recent league losses to Kilmarnock and Aberdeen, and the Belgian hoped to use his team’s performance, particularly in the second half, as a template for what he expects from them for the rest of the season.

 

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.

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“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 in the coming days, claimed that he could sense nervousness among his players at halftime, which he blamed to both the scoreline and 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.

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“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.”

 

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.”

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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.”

 

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