Philippe Clement will know the make of his squad when they face Dundee tomorrow night after defeat at Ross County last weekend.
The Rangers manager was frustrated with a sub-par performance in Dingwall which ultimately took the title race out of his side’s hands with the post-split fixtures being released earlier this afternoon. Celtic now hold a four point lead over Gers who can narrow it to one with victory at Dens Park but on May 11 it’ll be derby day at Parkhead which will be a hostile environment for the Light Blues.
Before that, though, there is of course the small matter of the Dens saga coming to an end when the game finally goes ahead tomorrow evening. Clement is also pleased that all the talk will end about dodgy pitches and nightmare surfaces.
Playing at Dens
“Initial thoughts? That the people who decided assured us there’d be a game tomorrow, so that’s a very positive thing. I’m not the guy for the half full glass or empty glass, I think everybody knows and knew about taking this decision. How it’s processed and prepared, the people who decided to play at Dens Park it’s 200 percent sure we’re gonna play there. They know the weather forecast probably and it’s certain that the pitch will cope. It’s good for us to know where we’ll play, how we can prepare that and it’s now go ahead for this game. People from Dundee and Rangers are happy that finally we can play this game.”
Happy with saga at an end?
“Yeah, of course. We don’t have anything to say or to do with that. We can only focus on ourselves and on our football. We have some work to do with that also after the weekend where we were not happy at how we played, how we conceded goals, how we scored so few chances and that we lost points. All the focus has been on that.”
Manager and player reactions to Sunday?
“They were very disappointed in themselves and that is a positive thing. They understood. They went to the fans also and I think that is a big step forward, in the past they just stepped inside. It is staying together in that way and that is important from my side also that it is stays like that, also in the disappointment that we stay together. They were down after the game about the performance.
“I had some clear words after the game and the next day we had the briefing about what went wrong individually, collectively, and how we can make it better again. It is an off day I think you say in England. We can call it like that. It is the first time in six points that I see my team like that. I was disappointed also about that but I think every manager has these moments, even with teams that win amazing things. I have been watching the series about the treble of Man City of last year and I saw quite a few of those moments. It doesn’t mean that I want to see it back on Wednesday but it is part of the game. It is not something that you want, not the players, not the manager, not the fans, nobody.
“But the most important thing is how you react after that. I have a good feeling around that that I will see the real face of my team again.”
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