Rangers manager Philippe Clement claims the club will have to look at the fitness of Hamza Igamane ahead of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup Final v Celtic.
The Belgian boss was speaking after Rangers’ impressive 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League, with the Gers unlucky not to take all three points.
Hamza Igamane is a striker on form at the moment with the young Moroccan lashing in the opener in the eventual Europa League draw at Ibrox.
But whilst Philippe Clement was full of praise for the young striker, and the Rangers team, it’s clear no-one’s place is guaranteed ahead of the Old Firm final.
Philippe Clement on Hamza Igamane
”No-body is undroppable,” Clement told TNT Sports when asked about Igamane’s form.
“Only when they play like this every time of course but we also need to see also his physical level in that way.
”But he’s making really, really major steps forward if you know where he was a few months ago.
”Physically, tactically it was a really long way but he’s one of the boys who has the most hunger and desire to become better.
”And then you grow really fast, because this is a good environment to grow as a young player with the experienced guys around, with the staff who wants to work with them every day to make them better.
”So there’s a lot of potential with this group to make it better than it is now.
”The first half also we created good chances, more than Tottenham, and we had to continue.
”We were not satisfied with the 0-0 and only parking the bus in front of the 16 and hoping that something falls out of the sky.
”No, we wanted to impose our football and create our own chances and that’s what they did second half.
”I think a lot of really strong performances today.”
Rangers manager hails Europa League showing
Philippe Clement has taken the chance to also hail his young Rangers team after the positive result against Tottenham Hotspur.
Rangers have punched well above their wait on Europa League duties and once again performed admirably to land a blow on Premier League opposition.
Come full time, Clement was full of praise for his team and reckons his side deserved to win the match over the piece.
The Rangers manager also reckons the result sets the club up nicely for the Premier Sports Cup trip to face Celtic at Hampden.
“They took the challenge with both hands and they grabbed it and they showed what they want to show everybody,” said Clement.
”I still believe now after this game, we should’ve won this game. We deserved to win this game.
”But I think it’s a very good advertisement for Scottish football and for sure for Rangers in that way to compete against a top Premier League at full strength.
”OK they had some injuries but with a lot of quality players on the pitch but our young guys, our experienced guys, everybody together showed a lot of quality together today.
”That’s what it’s about to be at Rangers. It’s about who I am.
”I want that mentality also in my squad. I saw also that they were not satisfied with a point.
”They wanted to win and they felt they were really close in winning this game and we need to keep this hunger and desire for more to come better.
”Like I said the last months, the last weeks, there is a lot of potential in this squad.
”It’s about working with them, getting experiences. Evenings like this helps a lot in that way.
”They need to play faster. They need to decide things faster. They need to be more aggressive and react faster and they all did.
”So it’s a big step forward and it’s about keeping this hunger and desire to make confirmation of that to become better as players. That’s a big thing.
“Yeah for sure (this is a good platform to build on for Sunday).
“To repeat this again and you see also the synergy is totally back with our fans.
”They see all the work the team is doing, they see the way we want to play, the way we want to impose our play also.
”It’s going to be a massive final against Celtic at Hampden, 50/50 with supporters so everybody is looking forward to that.”
