7 Philippe Clement Rangers presser takeaways as manager insists there's NO big Celtic gap and reveals transfer overhaul plans

Philippe Clement insists there's NOT a big gap between Celtic and Rangers this season.

The Ibrox manager was quizzed on the difference between the two Glasgow giants following another Hoops win at Parkhead to leave his side without a victory in the fixture this term. Clement, though, was adamant the two sides are still desperately close to one another in terms of quality as he took a defiant stance.

The Belgian met the press ahead of tomorrow evening's clash with Dundee and he touched on a number of subjects including a hefty summer transfer rebuild, injury problems and reflecting on the derby loss.

Here are a number of takeaways from Clement's presser.

Is there a gap between the big two?

"If we are both fully fit, no. No. That is also in the points. Even with two losses and a draw, we have one point more I think in the last six months. No. There is not a big gap. But we need to prove that on the pitch and in the results against each other and in the other games also because it is not just against each other. We need to grab those moments. That is part of top football. If you score the first goal you have another scenario, another dynamic of the game. For sure in this game, it would have been different.

"We had this chance also to do that, we had two good ones to score the first goal. You need to take that moment, it is our responsibility to do."

Losing players to injury costing Rangers

"Every team in the world, if you have nine players who are possibly starting eleven players who are not available, for every team in the world it is a difficult. I hear the same thing if one or two players of the Celtic team were missing during the season, that it was such a massive thing that they were back. We had nine. We have for tomorrow eleven that are missing. That is for me a major thing that we need to change for next season that these things don’t happen. It is the foundation of the house that we need to make."

Momentum shift and players keeping their jerseys

"I am not going to speak about every individual now. Just about everybody showing the level what they did a few weeks ago also. Don’t make everything now negative because we lost the game and now everything that happened the last couple of months is bad. It is not the case. A few weeks ago all of you guys were saying Rangers has the momentum, Rangers is the best team, Rangers is playing the best football. That was there also in that moment. These players were doing that also. Those players who were doing that, a lot of them are not available."

Summer rebuild and out of contract players

"I said last week we will make final decisions after these two weeks because it is too crucial to be busy with all those things, making negotiations with players for them. It is now about one thing, about the club and getting the results. Players who are busy with other things and making talks about contracts and everything they cannot have the focus on the result now. It is also a chance now to take also for them to show that they want to be here.

"It is going to be a big (rebuild) because of all the out-of-contracts. And maybe others also. It is going to be quite a rebuild also. You want to keep the foundations of this season, you don’t want to start from zero again. We need to find a good balance in that and doing smart things for now but also for the future of the club to bring profiles in, like Diomande is proving now week after week, that can be assets for the future. We also need to get experience in, if experience is leaving the building. We need to balance.

"Am I confident I'll have the budget? We are talking about that, yes. I think every manager if he needs a rebuild he wants more money. I feel like the club know how necessary it is to do that. It’s not only recruitment. In other departments, we need to make good decisions because we can’t have so many injuries. We need to correct these things there."

11 players injured

"I had to write it down because it was too much to keep it in mind. John Souttar will not be available, Connor Goldson not, Leon Balogun not, Dujon Sterling not, John Lundstram not because of suspension, Tom Lawrence not, Oscar Cortes not, Rabbi Matondo not, Abdallah Sima not and Danilo not and Bailey Rice not."

What do you say to fans who have lost belief ahead of Scottish Cup Final?

"That we are going to fight really hard to get a result. It is about margins that you need to take and we need to stay with eleven, of course. That helps also in that way. It is not that the last games we lost 4-0 or 3-0 or whatever. It was small margins. Even with ten at the end, nobody was relaxed in the stadium. We are going to push really hard towards the cup final but also the last two games. We count on the supporters to push really hard and to help the team over the difficult moments like they have been doing brilliantly in the last couple of months. The synergy has come back the last couple of months between the team and the fans. I count on that for this cup final also."

John Lundstram trust for the final

"I count on everyone, I also need players from the second team. There will be several of those on the bench who are maybe starting tomorrow. I count on everyone in this building until the last second they are here to give the best for the club. If I see they don’t show the mentality they will never be in the selection and I will take a young lad. But I haven’t seen that from one player.

"That’s what they showed being with 10 men and still digging in. It was so easy to give up in that moment and be punished."