Rangers manager Philippe Clement has made it clear that he will NOT prioritize the Scottish Cup, as he remains determined to chase the Premiership title.
The Ibrox side currently trails Old Firm rivals Celtic by 13 points at the top of the Premiership, with just 13 games remaining. Clement’s team has the chance to secure a Scottish Cup quarter-final spot today with a victory over Queen’s Park.
Additionally, they have an exciting Europa League last-16 tie to look forward to in March. Despite the significant gap in the league, Clement refuses to concede defeat in the title race.
When asked if the Scottish Cup has taken on greater importance due to the league deficit, the Belgian stated: “No, for me the league still has the same importance. It’s about trying to win every game and then seeing where you’re going to finish with that at the end of the season. Everything can still happen and I’m going for that.”
Rangers’ impressive top-eight finish in the Europa League group stage earned them a direct place in the last-16, granting the team two free midweeks while the play-offs are contested. However, Clement has warned his players that they won’t be getting any rest during this period.
He said: “It’s difficult because we were in our stride. The team was getting used to playing every three days so their bodies now need to adapt.
“I’ve experienced it in the past, where the first year was difficult but the second became easier as you get into that stride. So now we have to do different things. I can tell you, it was a really tough training session on Thursday which is normally our match day.
“The players need to put that effort in on the training pitch. They need to get used to that. It doesn’t mean that these weeks become relaxing. That’s not good for their bodies. We still have to develop the players and make them better.
“We’re not in a part of the season where we can lower their loads to get freshness. They still need to become stronger so we’re working on that and we’ll continue to do that in the weeks where we only have one game.”
With the January transfer window now closed, Clement is focused on the squad at his disposal as they aim to close the gap on Celtic in the Premiership and pursue success in the Scottish Cup and Europa League.
However, the manager admitted that he didn’t get everything he wanted in January to strengthen the team. Without specifying details, Clement hinted that, with Oscar Cortes injured and Rabbi Matondo on loan at Hannover, he would have liked to add more width to his squad.
He said: “It’s not about what I didn’t get. It’s what everybody wanted but, in the end, there was not a deal made. The club was busy with a lot of good players and profiles. But we couldn’t get them over the line. It was in our offensive part of the pitch.
“I don’t want to go into more in detail – but I think you guys are smart enough to know.”
