With a 2-2 draw in Lisbon last Thursday evening, it’s set to be a big night in Glasgow as the sides battle it out for a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Speaking to the media at this afternoon’s pre-match press conference, Clement said: “I know Benfica rested four or five players ahead of this game, but my players are ready. I saw enough today, the freshness is back, the hunger is really big, and we know we need to play above our level to qualify but we are going to do everything to do that and with the support of the fans that can give something extra.
“Our fans are amazing, they give so much energy to the team and that can help them go above their level. Whether it’s to make a final sprint, to block a shot, to make a decisive action and that's what I am counting on also, that the fans from the first second until the last second go full for the team.
“It is going to be a really interesting game and both teams will play to win. This game was sold out really fast, although it is a really early kick-off, and a lot of people have to take a day off work to get to the stadium, but we could've sold the stadium two or three times so that shows already how much support there is from the fans and how they are really excited for this game.”
Todd Cantwell returned to training today following an injury, a welcome boost for Clement as he manages the current injury situation in the squad.
He continued: “Todd is ready to play some minutes, it is always discussed with the medical staff, and I follow that. He is clearly not ready for 90 minutes, but it is to decide if starting or not starting but I don't want to give away too much, but we know the minutes he can play and he feels good. He was good in training also, so I am happy to see him back.
“Dujon [Sterling] will not be in the selection, it is a minor thing, but it is too big of a risk to let him play and to make it more serious, so we will see towards Sunday if it will be possible or not.
“Ross McCausland has still got problems like in the Hibs game he came in, he played some minutes but then he got more problems because there is still blood in his calf from the hard tackle he got, so he did one bit of training today and afterwards he was out also because we cannot force that too much, we will see tomorrow how he is if he feels better or not.
On the challenge he expects from Benfica in the return leg, he continued: “We are not naive, we know that Benfica have a talented squad with a lot of experience also, they have a lot of young really big talents, and other players who have played at a really high level before. We know it would be a really big surprise in all of Europe if we could take out Benfica, but we are really hungry to do that.
“If you play against Dumbarton or you play against Benfica, the preparation is the same. Of course, there are different details that you focus on with the team because you expect some scenarios in the game and how they play and how we will need to play but the preparation is never different.”