Philippe Clement warned Rangers 'questions will be asked' if Scottish Cup final brings another Celtic defeat

Kenny Miller has warned Philippe Clement questions will be asked of him if he fails to get one over Celtic for a fourth time.

The Rangers boss has been in charge of three Old Firm derbies now with Saturday's loss the second time he's tasted defeat and the 3-3 draw at Ibrox the only glimmer of hope he's had from the fixture. After the next two league games which are essentially dead rubbers comes a Scottish Cup final against the Hoops.

Win and he will have a cup double to his name after less than a year in charge and will have been able to offer fans a sign of things that can be achieved next season and going forward. It will also be a first victory over the Hoops and show that the manager and team CAN compete with them.

On the flip side though a loss would suggest that the old failings of Michael Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst are still there in that the Light Blues can't lay a glove on their biggest rivals when it matters. So there may be more at stake than silverware for Clement and Miller feels he would start to be under pressure at that point.

He told talkSPORT: "When you’re a Rangers or Celtic manager you’re always judged on the big games. You’re expected to win every single game. You’re expected to deal with the teams outside of Celtic pretty easily. Over the last 12 games it’s not really happened that way. But I remember going into the last derby of last season and Michael Beale was getting that thrown at him about big games: semi finals, cup finals that he had lost to Celtic.

"This Scottish Cup final will be Philippe Clement’s fourth go at Celtic in a short space of time and if Rangers were to lose it then it just heaps a lot of pressure – not at this moment – but when you look at next season. That first Old Firm game will be back at Celtic Park and it’s a place they’ve not won too often over the past few years so if that was the fifth game and you’ve not been able to get one over on your old rivals then I just think questions will start to be getting asked.

"In the post match after the game on Saturday he bemoaned the bad start and how they're not getting into their rhythm and have maybe not been as aggressive. That’s three times where we’ve probably heard a lot of the same thing after the game. That’s his job to go and get the team prepared to start the game properly and give them the right detail. Listen, sometimes players just don’t do it.

“I definitely think after a big summer, going into that opening Old Firm game next season will be crucial – if he doesn’t get this Scottish Cup won. The flip side is you can finish the season on such a high and if you had offered any Rangers fan a League Cup and a Scottish Cup when Philippe Clement came in then every Rangers fan would have ripped your hand off. That is still available, irrespective of what has happened in this last month to six weeks in the league.”