By STEPHEN MCGOWAN
Published: 17:30 EST, 8 December 2024 | Updated: 17:30 EST, 8 December 2024
Philippe Clement believes Rangers can pile more problems on Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League Battle of Britain.
Goals from Hamza Igamane, Danilo and captain James Tavernier secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall and made it four wins on the bounce for the Ibrox side.
Narrowing the gap on second-place Aberdeen to two points — with a game in hand — Clement and his team warmed up for a testing double-header against Spurs and the Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic.
Victory at Ibrox on Thursday would enhance hopes of securing a top-eight finish in the new-look Europa League.
And, despite flagging up the financial gulf between the sides, Clement believes his team can ramp up the pressure on former Celtic boss Postecoglou after they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 4-3 to Chelsea.
‘You can give every team a contest,’ said the Belgian. ‘My teams did it in the past against really big teams.
Philippe Clement says Rangers can give Spurs a contest in this week's Europa League clash
Hamza Igamane celebrates with Ianis Hagi after scoring in a 3-0 victory over Ross County
James Tavernier enjoys the moment after completing the scoring for Rangers in Dingwall
‘I believe in this team that there’s a lot of quality and this is just the start of something with the squad.
‘There’s a lot of potential in the squad if we can keep on working in this way and they keep focused in that way.
'So, for them, it’s also a really big test against Tottenham to see where we are at that level.
‘So, I’m really looking forward to that, like I was in the past with other teams playing against much bigger teams.’
Despite starting recent games, goalscorer Danilo and Romanian midfielder Ianis Hagi don’t feature in Clement’s European squad and will miss out on Thursday.
Both will be kept in reserve for the first Hampden final of the season against Celtic, with Clement reluctant to look beyond a huge step up in quality against Tottenham.
‘You can start talking about other games or the other game after Thursday. Now, everything is on Thursday,’ he added.
‘It’s against a team that’s out of our league normally, financially for sure. So, it’s the kind of game you only have things to win.
'It’s a little bit different situation than the normal games we have, but we’re going to fight. It’s really interesting in that way to see also with the squads what they can do at that level.’
Outplaying a Ross County side which had won four of their five home games this season, Clement was pleased with the control his team exercised and feels his players are finally starting to gel ahead of a critical week.
‘A very clear victory,’ added Clement. ‘That’s not easy in this place and with the reputation they have this season and already last season with this manager, so well deserved. Three really good goals.
‘We could have scored more. We had several really good attacks also with a few good saves of the goalkeeper. Our finishing is getting better, more shots on target.
‘You see the development of the team week by week, what we’ve been working on. You see that things are starting to gel together better and better, what is a normal process.’
Shaken by a stunning early strike from the clinical Igamane, County were starting to build their way back into the game when stand-in keeper Jack Hamilton — deputising for the injured Ross Laidlaw — took a heavy touch from a pass-back and allowed Danilo to capitalise on a big mistake.
‘Jack is disappointed in terms of the manner of the goal. But I don’t think that was the reason we lost the game,’ said County boss Don Cowie.
‘I think he played really well, apart from that one moment. And so we’re not going to get too caught up in it.’