Philippe Clement: Rangers boss warns against title-winning thoughts ahead of Aberdeen visit
Rangers vs. Aberdeen on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports; kickoff at 8 p.m.; Leon Balogun will miss the match due to a facial injury. Rangers have the opportunity to take the lead in the Scottish Premiership for the first time this season.
By Gordon Duncan & Alison Conroy
Rangers manager Philippe Clement says he is not thinking about his team’s opportunity to top the Scottish Premiership with a victory versus Aberdeen, even though he acknowledges there is work to be done.
As the race for the title takes another turn, Rangers manager Philippe Clement claimed he is not considering their opportunity to top the Scottish Premiership for the first time this season.
Rangers may take the top spot, at least for a whole day, if they defeat the Dons by three goals or more on Tuesday, thanks to Celtic’s mistake at Aberdeen.
With a game remaining, Clement’s team is three points behind their Old Firm rivals, who they have defeated in their last four league meetings since then.
However, the Belgian, who was crowned January’s Premiership Manager of the Month, maintains that nobody should be considering Celtic before playing Aberdeen.
“I hope not in my thoughts, but also not in the changing room. It is all about you and your thoughts for the upcoming game,” he stated to Sky Sports News
“As a player, it is not about planning for the upcoming weeks and months—that
“Although I’m happy right now, it never seems to work out that way for me to just relax on the couch and enjoy.
“We must maintain this competitiveness, this hunger, and this desire.
This team isn’t performing to its full potential because of recent additions that we need to incorporate into the group and the number of players returning from injuries.
“We can only grow in the next couple of months.”
After been appointed as Aberdeen’s temporary manager through the end of the current campaign, Neil Warnock will take over for the first time at Ibrox.
Clement is not concerned about potential actions by the next manager.
“I don’t think we’ve ever met, but it’s someone with a lot of experience in the game,” he said.
“We are concentrating on ourselves, therefore I don’t anticipate many changes in Aberdeen’s style of play or future plans.
We’ve been practicing that a lot over the past few months since we are prepared for every situation and know that things might change during games. We don’t concentrate on just one issue since we understand that we must follow a team’s lead.”
In Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Livingston, defender Leon Balogun was pulled out with what seemed to be a fractured cheek, and Clement is unclear of when he will return.
“He’s with the surgeon to check what to do, for sure he will not be available for tomorrow.”
Ryan Jack will also miss the game as he continues his recuperation from an injury, the manager disclosed.
Ryan Jack has a history of injuries and is coming off of one, therefore he won’t be included in the selection tomorrow.
“It is only a short recovery time between the two games, so I will not take the risk with him.”
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