Philippe Clement will feel like all he had done recently is spend his time talking to the press as the games come thick and fast for Rangers.
They don’t come much bigger than Celtic in a cup final as the manager fights for his job with success in the Premier Sports Cup potentially the springboard he needs.
Still on a relative high from the Europa League performance against Tottenham at Ibrox, Clement has been speaking to the media about injuries, a special talent and his Celtic jinx.
Philippe Clement doesn’t rule out John Souttar for Rangers
The immediate concern after the final whistle was whether or not John Souttar and Hamza Igamane would be fit for Rangers to play against Celtic:
“I first need to get the assessment of the doctor and that’s not yet clear so I can’t say anything, “ confirmed Clement.
“But I know that John will do everything to play that game. He’s very motivated always for that and for the club and about winning trophies.
“So I know he will give his best but it needs to be something that is possible.”
With no mention of Igamane, it looks like the young Moroccan was just taking a breather.
Is it make or break for Clement against Celtic?
Clement is yet to beat Celtic in any competition and it feels like his future hangs on getting a result at Hampden.
There is no point picking up points against the likes of Ross County and St Johnstone, if the gap at the top of the table is only going to get bigger after every derby.
The Gers boss is refusing to look to the past though:
“It’s a difficult question because you speak about a lot of games,” Clement replied when asked what needs to change to beat Celtic.
“The last, let’s say, year with a lot of different players that we played. The team of last year, [there are] not so many players anymore on the pitch.
“The team of the beginning of the season in September, a lot of new players coming. So, that changes also all the whole story of the game in that way.
“So, I’m not thinking about the past, I’m thinking about the next game. Because the past is the past.
“You can speak also about all these teams who won this League Cup and you see them 28 times but it will not change anything.
“Because it’s every time with another squad or other managers or whatever. So it’s about this game, with these players.”
Clement names the one thing that Rangers need to beat Celtic
Rangers didn’t win a single derby last season and haven’t won a meaningful one since the Scottish Cup semi final under Giovanni van Bronckhorst in 2022.
The current squad shouldn’t have the same scars with Clement providing an encouraging update on their mental strength:
“We spoke about belief yesterday. If you don’t have that belief as a player, as a manager, as a club, you cannot play like yesterday.
“So, it starts with belief before the game, not during the game. It’s not suddenly, ‘Oh, now we’re going to do this’.
“No, the belief was there before the game. The belief is there already quite a while and the team feels also that they’re making steps in every sense.
“So, it’s about doing that again on Sunday. It’s first now about recovery and then to pick the right squad, to get some fresh legs in the team also and to play our football against Celtic.
“Then it’s going to be a really good clash with two good teams.”
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