Philippe Clement says ‘hungry’ Rangers players deserve day off after Hearts rout

Posted Sunday, February 25, 2024 by PA

Manager Philippe Clement revealed his Rangers side earned themselves a rare Sunday off after going five points clear of Celtic at the top of the cinch Premiership with a 5-0 win over Hearts.

Midfielder Mohamed Diomande’s fine strike in just over a minute at Ibrox set the tone for an impressive performance.

Oscar Cortes doubled that lead with his first goal as a Light Blues player with striker Cyriel Dessers adding a third and fourth just before and after the break and substitute Fabio Silva scoring a fifth to pile pressure on Celtic, who take on Motherwell at Fir Park on Sunday.

The Gers boss, looking ahead to the visit to Kilmarnock on Wednesday night, said: “There is nothing won. We won three points and have a difficult day again on Wednesday. I am already thinking about Wednesday.

“That is my character and it is what it is. It is also the best way and I want to see that from my players also. They can enjoy it, they can be happy today.

“They even have a day off tomorrow, that doesn’t happen that much. That was to be decided about results in the last couple of weeks so they deserve that.

“I expect that they come in really fresh on Monday with a lot of mentality and hunger for more. It is all about that. To be ambitious, to be hungry for more, to be better.”

The Belgian was not totally satisfied with everything he saw in the Gers’ 10th successive win, adding: “Not everything. But it has been one of the best until now, I think.

“If I want everything, I want to have less shots against on target in the second half.

“But we made a lot of changes and the other team has nothing to lose. Then you can get into this situation. Maybe Jack (Butland) was happy that he could show his quality in this game.

“I am really pleased but I see what I see in the training. It is not that these things are falling out of the sky.

“The team is growing, we have been talking about that a lot in the last weeks and months. They played a really good game and they took the moments also. That is important in football.

“The first goal from Dio is really important in a game like that to open up the game and then we continue and it is good that there is a hunger and desire to never stop, to always want more.

“That is the mentality I want to see and what we have been talking about the last couple of months.”

Third-placed Jambos suffered their first defeat in 13 matches and boss Steven Naismith was unhappy at the goals his side conceded.

The former Ibrox forward said: “We lost some of the weakest goals we have conceded at bad times in the game.

“After Rangers going top of the league last week and playing before Celtic this week, we knew they were going to start fast and the atmosphere would be loud and we probably didn’t deal with that well enough.

“When we concede the two goals, one early in the first half, one early in the second half, it is an uphill battle.

“It is a lesson to be learned. I would hope it wouldn’t (affect us) because we are in a really good place.”