PHILIPPE CLEMENT insists he will never sign players who aren’t motivated to face Ross County.

Rangers face a week of destiny with a trip to Dingwall tomorrow followed by a Battle of Britain Europa League visit from Spurs and an Old Firm Premier Sports Cup final.

2

A shock defeat to Don Cowie’s men in April sparked the beginning of the end for the Ibrox side’s title push.

Asked if his players need to earn their places in the two glamour clashes by performing well in the Highlands, Clement said: “No. Players who don’t want to play against Ross County or against Dumbarton in the cup will never enter this building.

“If I feel that in a talk with them then it will never happen. This club is not only about playing Celtic and Tottenham. It’s all these other games too because that’s the way you can win trophies. Otherwise, never.

“I want that mentality in my squad. Not only in the games but also in training. If I see players who don’t want to win then they cannot play games.

“That’s the fundamental of being a professional football player and for sure being a player in a winning team. If you have that other mentality then you can never reach your goals.”

Clement saw the side he rebuilt in the summer smash six past Kilmarnock in midweek to leave them in confident mood as they look to banish last season’s demons in the noon kick-off against the Staggies.

He said: “We know they have a very good reputation at home. We know what we will face and we know we need to play a really good game to get the three points there.

“I’m happy with the dynamic in the team and I want to see confirmation of that again against Ross County. I will push on that every time over the next couple of months, the next couple of weeks – that there’s no satisfaction feeling.

“I didn’t have the feeling either when the boys came in on Friday. But you need to play a really good game to win against Ross County.”

Clement recruited 11 new faces in the summer and claims he’s never hidden what will be expected of them.

He added: “We have a lot of new players in the building. You know them from a lot of video and a lot of games that they played. You know them in a certain way but they sometimes play in different systems and in other ways of football.

“You need to see through that and see the qualities or the weaknesses. Can they make the squad better or not?

“Do they have potential for now or is it for a longer future and we will work with that. We can bring them to a level that’s good enough for Rangers or a level that’s higher than that. So you need to take everything in account.

“But then it’s the personal matter also. You have talks with them individually. I try to be really open and honest about that.

“I never want a player coming into the building and after one month they say to me ‘oh, gaffer, but you didn’t tell me that’ or ‘I’m surprised about that’. I want to avoid that.

“So I’m really clear, really open about the positives and the more difficult things about being here. Everybody who’s in the building, who comes into the building, said ‘yeah, I want that’. But then you need to do it also.”