Philippe Clement happy and proud of cup win but urges Rangers to want more

Rangers boss Philippe Clement revealed his pride in the team after their Viaplay Cup success but hopes the win only fuels the desire for more trophies.

James Tavernier’s goal sealed a 1-0 win over Aberdeen and allowed the Ibrox side to lift the trophy at a packed Hampden.

For Clement, the silverware came just over two months after he arrived at the club to pick up the pieces after Michael Beale’s sacking and he said it was a clear sign of progress.

“I’m excited, really happy and proud,” the Belgian said. “If I see the path that the team has taken in the past nine weeks, everybody sees the team is growing.

“It’s also not easy after a historic win like Thursday’s away game in Seville, with the travelling and everything, to have the focus that they had today. That was a main thing for me.

“They did a brilliant job today. Aberdeen is a team that’s really hard to beat, a team that is really structured, loves to defend and is very direct. We took out their transitions and created really good chances.

“Unluckily for us, their goalkeeper had a really big day today but in the end we deserved this victory very clearly, I think.”

The Hampden victory came days after the win against Real Betis that earned progress in the Europa League, and Wednesday’s league game against St Johnstone offers the opportunity to move to within two points of Celtic in the title race, and with a game in hand.

Clement wants Sunday’s success to create a hunger for more silverware and believes that mentality can be the key to a memorable season.

“I think if you feel this, it creates a certain hunger for more,” he said.

“That’s my mentality and it’s always how I’ve been and I see this more and more in the dressing room.

“It doesn’t mean we are going to win all the games all season, that’s not realistic, but we need to push to win all the games.

“If you have this mentality with the way we want to play football, with the way everything is analysed, with the quality we have, we can do really good things.

“But football is always confirmation. If you have satisfaction for one moment and are happy with the way things are, you will go down.

“So in the next weeks and months I want to see this hunger and desire, to be better, to work hard, to be in the team and also the team mentality that is in the dressing room now.”