Rangers manager Philippe Clement has branded the early Scottish Premiership kick off v Livingston “strange”.
Speaking after the club defeated Sparta Prague in the Europa League, the Belgian coach was quickly shifting the focus back on Scottish Premiership duties.
It comes with Rangers now one win from qualification from Europa League Group C and the club set to face Aris Limassol at Ibrox on matchday five.
But with Rangers set to kick off away to Livingston at 12pm despite finishing at 10pm on Thursday, Philippe Clement has claimed the full focus will be on league duties as he challenges his side to “adapt” to the troublesome kick off time.
Those early kick off away days in Scottish football have been a bugbear of several managers and now the Belgian will have to overcome the SFA’s scheduling.
“First (the focus goes back to) the league now,” said Clement. “Already Sunday at 12 o’clock, it’s a little bit strange it’s 12 o’clock but we will adapt.
“And then it’s Europe again; it’s two more games so we need to look at it game by game.
“Maybe we can decide something maybe already next game but that’s still a long way to go and the team needs to continue doing what they’re doing every day in the training and every game in the league and then focus on Europe afterwards.”
Rangers boss Phillipe Clement praises fans ahead of Livingston trip
Speaking after the Europa League victory over Sparta Prague, Rangers boss Philippe Clement has also been praising the club’s supporters.
The Ibrox support was in fine voice in the victory over the Czech side and the Belgian boss claims the Rangers fans are matching his expectations.
“It was amazing and what I expected,” said Clement. “My expectations are really high about the stadium, about the fans, about the atmosphere.
“That was also one of the reasons to come here because I am a football freak so I love this tradition, all this atmosphere, all this passion.
“Because I’m also a passionate guy about football, so I enjoyed it.”
Rangers head to Livingston in the Scottish Premiership ahead of a two-week international break after which Philippe Clement’s side face a gruelling 12 game run.
