Philippe Clement Insists Full Focus Is On Kilmarnock

PHILIPPE Clement insists Rangers’ focus is on Kilmarnock tomorrow evening as they continue a busy December period with Scottish Premiership, UEFA Europa League and the League Cup final to come in the next few weeks.

The Light Blues started the month with a 1-0 victory over St Johnstone on Sunday, and the manager is hoping his side can continue to build in attacking areas with the return of players from injury.

Speaking to the media at this afternoon’s pre-match press conference, Clement said: “It is all about Kilmarnock now and it is game by game, they are all totally different kinds of games also.

“It is about focusing on the next one with the squad that is available and making the right choices to keep some freshness to get the three points.

“Every game is important for us if we want to achieve what we want to, so we are focused on the next one.”

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031224 Press Conference, Philippe Clement 16

When asked about what he would like to see from his side as they return to Ibrox tomorrow night, Clement continued: “To score more goals, I think that is a major one. We haven’t conceded much but we have to score more goals and be more lethal in the final third.

“There were several important offensive players that were missing. Danilo is coming back now, Ianis [Hagi] is coming back and giving other options and Hamza [Igamane] is taking really good steps.

“We are starting to get options there in the offensive part and that is crucial at a club like Rangers when there are so many games. We will now have 16 games in the next eight weeks so it is going to be very important that we can have that rotation, but also that we can put quality in because that is crucial to get the results.”

On whether he is satisfied with the number of chances being created by his side, the manager added: “You always want to get better, but in the last couple of weeks we had a lot of good chances that were saved really well against Dundee United and against St Johnstone.

“You always want more of course but you need to create this automatism between players. We are working on that with all of these guys and it is about getting the confidence and getting the goals but we are seeing more and more in a good way and we are creating more chances and that is the way we need to continue.”

Clement also provided an update on his squad ahead of tomorrow night’s fixture, after confirming at the weekend that Neraysho Kasanwirjo would be out for around four to six months.

He said: “In general it is positive, I have already spoken about Nana and he will not be available for the next couple of months.

“Tom Lawrence is still working individually but I expect him back in the short term, while Rabbi Matondo and Oscar Cortes are doing parts of training, so they are close to being available again.

“Dujon Sterling is a doubt for tomorrow, but that is a question of hours, so it is really short term.”


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