PHILIPPE CLEMENT has encouraged his Rangers players to react in the right way as the defence of their League Cup trophy begins this weekend.
The Gers host St Johnstone tomorrow evening as they target a place in the quarter-finals of the competition that they won at the National Stadium last December.
Speaking to the media in this afternoon’s press conference ahead of the fixture, the manager commented: “That is done, that is finished and it is our job, my responsibility and for sure the players also to react in the next game and to win that one.
“That's football and that is the part of the story of Rangers and that is part of every club in the world.
“That is what we need to do in the next weeks and months, to make the story better and better and that what I have also seen the last three weeks, that the squad is getting better and better.”
The Belgian says his squad are constantly improving as they look to bounce back from their midweek result when they prepare to take on the fellow Scottish Premiership side.
He continued: “I see the work in the performance or medical staff, it is much better than last season.
“I see these young guys developing, if I see Connor Barron playing now compared already with last season.
“There are a lot of things going on and we need to fight every week or every three days really hard to get the result and like this it will become better and better.
“Because the potential is here, like I said at the end of last season it was end of the cycle with several players who were over their top.
“They had their best period here and they were really important for this club and they did great things although the fans were also not happy about that period because it was not enough trophies.
“So we had to do something different, something fresh and new, some new talents in, to make it better. That is what we are doing and we are going to continue that.”
The boss has praised the fans for their support from the Hampden stands and says everyone involved has to stick together during the period spent away from their home stadium.
He added: “I have to say that the fans were amazing after the red card, because then you felt the buzz that drives the team and gave them energy.
“We need to look for that, to find that again also in Hampden, all of us together. But our duty stays to win football games, to win duels, to give good passes, make the right runs to show what the fans want to see.
“That is our job to do, and then I know the fans will follow.
“It is very important to stick together and to be positive to make it better and to get the best results also in this period that we are not at Ibrox.
“I know everybody behind the scenes is working hard, doing every hour that we can go faster back to Ibrox, everybody wants and desires that in the club.
“I cannot ask more than that, that everybody is doing that and I cannot ask more from the fans than that they keep on pushing my team.
“What they have been doing and also after the game the fans were there for the team.”