Rangers v Celtic: Philippe Clement insists season is not over as Brendan Rodgers vows league leaders won’t soften | Football news
Philippe Clement insists Rangers’ season is not over ahead of Thursday’s Old Firm clash, while Brendan Rodgers has vowed Celtic will not “soften up” despite their 14-point lead in the Scottish Premiership.
The latest installment of this accessory – live on Sky Sports – comes weeks after the two met in the controversial League Cup final which Celtic won on penalties.
Clement insists defeat at Hampden Park proves Rangers can beat the champions, with the Scottish Football Association’s head of refereeing later admitting as much they should have won a penalty in extra time when the score was tied at 3-3.
However, if the Belgian is to get a much-needed win in this game, he will have to do so without captain James Tavernier who joined the growing list of injured.
Clement: We have to prove we can beat Celtic
“We deserved to win [the last match against Celtic]we had the best chances and some other circumstances as well,” Clement said Sky Sports News.
“The team showed it. It’s important to show it again and take three points.”
When asked if some fans are right to think that the season is already over because of Celtic’s lead in the Championship, he added: “No, for sure [that is] not [the case].
“We are going to fight for every match and every result. That is everyone’s duty and what everyone wants.
“It’s a new team, with a new long-term project, with young players who are getting better. It’s about hunger and the desire to win every game. That’s what this club is about and that will never change.”
The Rangers enter the game after losing to St. Mirren and then drew against Motherwell, with Clement adding: “Anyone who saw the two games against Motherwell and St Mirren – we were a team that deserved to win these games with the amount of chances we had.
“We have to be more clinical and efficient and luck has to fall more than we had in those games.”
Rodgers: Celtic will not soften
The champions, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last 27 league games, but Rodgers insists they are taking nothing for granted against a Gers side who are under fire from their own fans.
“Listen, we’re always going to take the pressure,” said the Northern Irishman. “We put ourselves under pressure in every game to win and win well. So nothing changes in this aspect.
“We always stay in a humble way to prepare for games. People look at the gap, but that doesn’t even come into it. We can’t soften, we won’t soften.
“We are performing for the next match because we know how much this match means to people.
“I went there last season, the first game, under pressure and all that stuff. Now I go there with 14 points… but there’s no change for us, the mentality is to go and play and look to play our game.
“That pressure will always be there, especially a game at Ibrox without fans.”
Having grown up in a family of Celtic fans in Country Antrim, Rodgers knows how much that game means to fans regardless of the context of the league table.
“I understand the game – I understood it as a fan – and I understood it from the first game I had as manager in September 2016,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed every one of them. Building on them is always great.
“There’s always some kind of pressure. I hear talk of a ‘dead rubber’. There’s never a game between Rangers and Celtic that’s dead – not in my book.
“You want to win every game and you want to play at the best level. For me, I love this opportunity, I love the game – it’s an iconic game and I always want to win it.”
Rodgers won them in general, a total of 16, and in 20 derbies he experienced only one defeat. Victory on Thursday would see him enjoy a career-high 17 wins against Aberdeen and the Light Blues, more than against any other club.
Watch the Old Firm clash live on Sky Sports Football and Main Event from 2pm on Thursday 2 January, kick-off at 3pm.
