Philippe Clement ready for ‘major game’ against Ross County

Philippe Clement expects his players to treat Ross County with as much importance as Celtic and Tottenham as Rangers get set for a huge week in three different competitions.

After travelling to Dingwall in the Premiership on Sunday, the Light Blues host Spurs in the Europa League on Thursday night before the Premier Sports Cup final against their Old Firm rivals at Hampden Park the following Sunday.

It is a trio of fixtures that will help shape the Ibrox club’s season but the Belgian boss stressed that the County game is as significant as the more high-profile fixtures to follow.

“Players who don’t want to play against Ross County or against Dumbarton in the cup will never enter this building,” said the Gers boss.

“If I feel that, never, never, because this club is not only about playing against Celtic and against Tottenham. If you have that mentality, you can never reach your goals.

“It’s all these other games also because that’s the way you can win trophies. Otherwise, never. So I want that mentality in my squad.

“Not only in the games, but also in training. If I see players who don’t want to win, they cannot play games.

“So that’s the fundamental of being a professional football player and for sure, being a player in a winning team.

“So it’s the same every time – next game. So yes, it is major game against Ross County.”

Rangers go into the game on the back of a 6-0 home win against Kilmarnock in midweek but will have memories of a 3-2 defeat away to County last season which damaged their title hopes.

“We know they (Ross County) have a very good reputation at home,” said Clement. “We’ve seen also really good teams having to fight until the last minutes to get results there, or losing points there.

“So we know what we will face and we know we need to play a really good game to get the three points.

“I’m happy with the dynamic in the team. I want to see confirmation of that again against Ross County.

“I will push on that every time over the next couple of weeks, the next couple of months, with a group where there’s no feeling of satisfaction.

“But you need to play a really good game to win against them.”