Philippe Clement considers  Rangers’ red card appeal as he shares what the midfielder said to him following the VAR call.

 

The Ecuadorian was sent off towards the end of the first half and it could rule him out a showpiece clash.

Referring to Rangers as a “proper team,” Philippe Clement also disclosed that he would consider appealing Jose Cifuentes’ red card after the midfield player compounded his selection dilemma for the Viaplay Cup Final.

When Cifuentes was sent off in the 45th minute of the 3-1 home victory over Dundee for late catching of Amadou Bakayoko, the Ibrox boss’ midfield woes increased. At that point, the injured trio of Tom Lawrence, Nico Raskin, and Ryan Jack were already out. Once VAR Steven Kirkland sent the Ecuadorian to the monitor, Kevin Clancy revised his initial booking decision.

But Clement said his player insists he pulled out of the challenge and will now wait to review the incident himself before making a decision on an appeal. With Danilo also on the sidelines ahead of a massive week that sees Rangers head for a crucial Europa League clash with Real Betis before facing Aberdeen at Hampden next Sunday, Clement was dealt another curveball by Cifuentes red.

And the boss said: “I’ve not seen the images back. Jose told me he lost the ball and wanted to win it back. He wanted to block the ball but the other guy is a split second faster and tackles through the ball, there’s contact. Jose tries to avoid it, he didn’t go through it, so I want to see things back to have a clear and good opinion so we can make an assessment the next few days.

“I am a glass half full man, I don’t want to be a half empty guy. I don’t want to look at the problems, I need to find solutions. It has not been easy, we had a few in the first few weeks. The players are giving me good solutions.”

Rangers showed guts to fight back from losing a sixth minute goal and claim three points that keeps Clement’s unbeaten run in check after 12 games. Goals from Cyriel Dessers, a James Tavernier penalty and Abdallah Sima’s 13th goal of the season had Gers on easy street before Cifuentes saw red.

But the boss insists his injury-hit side have bared their teeth and shown they are ready to win trophies with another fighting performance. Clement said: “The team showed that they are a team. I see this dressing room growing week by week.

“That is crucial. We are putting a lot of attention on that. I know you need a really strong dressing room where everybody fight for one another, where everybody is available for the team.

“You don’t win trophies without that. Everyone sees in the last few weeks this team sticking together in every sense. Players coming in, playing out of position and doing a job for the team.

“We played to create in the second half, not just sitting it out. If you look back, we had the best chances in the second half. You can also see the physical levels of the players growing, they are becoming stronger and stronger.

“That is the work we need to continue, we are by far not at our maximum. We still have a long way to go. We need to get more players fit and we need to continue to work. But if the mentality stays like this then we will take more points.”