Philippe Clement has spoken to the media ahead of the Premiership fixture with Dundee. Here is what he had to say.

Can you give us an update on the squad? Is Ridvan still missing?

Ridvan is still missing, yes. The rest no special things after the last game.

Is the injury now more long term?

No, not long term. But he is not fit for this game.

When do you envisage him coming back?

As fast as possible. It is a matter of days so not weeks. It is not going to be many weeks but is it now in a few days or after the weekend, we will see. That is difficult to predict now.

How do you reflect on the game on Sunday?

What I said after the game. I am a positive person. I had in the past some managers who had nightmares before a game and scenarios. I don’t think you can have a nightmare like that, to be after 22 seconds be behind in an Old Firm in that way. That is the biggest blow you can get as a player, as a fan also in the way because you are excited about the game and you want to start good. You get a goal against with a lot of bad luck also because this ball can go a hundred times in the stand instead of going in the goal. That is a big blow and my team needed some time to recover from that. As an opponent, when you come in an away game and you start like that you get a boost, that is also natural. That is what happened in that game. I was not happy about the first half, although we could also have scored two goals. We had the good chance with the header with Connor, the chance with Fabio two times in the same action. We could have scored also our goals but our play was not as good and we gave away two other chances, one time of Maeda and one time of the header of O’Riley. The penalty is also extremely unlucky in that way. You go at half-time in a really bad situation and then you need to switch your mind and restart again and that is what I talked about at half-time. What I was disappointed about and how we had to do it better. What my guys did and what the players did, in the second half we played a really good game, we were the best team and we were creating the chances. Then you have the scenario you come back 2-2, then directly you get the 2-3, another knock, but we react again and never give up. That is for me the big satisfaction after this game. To get so many knocks, in an unlucky way also, because if you speak about the goal we get against after 22 seconds, it is really unlucky that the ball goes in the goal. The penalty situation is also unlucky to get the ball on your arm. Those are the rules now, I said also after the game. We scored a really good goal and the VAR goes back ten seconds or something, which is not always the case. I said also after the game I accept VAR made this decision. There were a lot of unlucky situations. Then in an Old Firm if you come back and score like that and you see your team all second half pushing that hard and creating good opportunities against a good team, who I have a lot of respect for, then after the game you need to be satisfied and happy. I hear a day later and maybe you guys can check, somebody told me it was from 1987 – that is a long time ago, I only have two players in my squad who were born – the first time that a team comes back after being 0-2 behind in an Old Firm. That means my players did something really good in the second half. In the first half we should have done a lot of things better, we talked about that at half-time and yesterday. I think getting a goal like that creates a sort of negative effect and you see with a lot of teams in the world, the most important thing is that we could switch afterwards.

What does that say about the character of your team?

That there is a big evolution. These are the same players that a few months ago could never do that so they have taken a lot of good lessons. This needs to be in that way a reference game for the rest of their career, if it is here at Rangers or at another team. This is the mentality you need to be at the top level. It is not an easy thing, otherwise it would not have been from 1987 that this has happened.

How hopeful are you that this game will go ahead?

I don’t know. It is a crazy situation to go in a top league that you don’t know the day before. We are going to travel now, we are going to stay in a hotel and we don’t know yet if the game is on tomorrow or not. That is a really weird situation. OK, it can happen in extreme circumstances. I don’t think the last few years in all the top leagues it ever happened but now when it is raining in Scotland there is every time a problem. It is not that in Scotland there are a lot of sunny days. It is a bad situation for the league I think, and for Dundee themselves also. I don’t think they are happy with the situation.

Do you have concerns for the safety of your players on that pitch?

I don’t know because I haven’t seen the pitch, I haven’t been on the pitch. It was clear from the moment we were there the last time that it was dangerous for players, for both teams, and it was not playable. I will see if it is another situation now. At the end, I am not the one who decides. It is the referee who decides this.

Are you hopeful of an early decision?

I want a decision today. You want to prepare games but the clubs, both clubs and the federation, are on speaking terms about that. You want to prepare games, if it is not possible you want to see what is the alternative and then you need to find an alternative elsewhere and there is not much time because it is the split next week in the league. That is also clear. You want an alternative and to play as fast as possible but you need to prepare also. I think these things give a really bad image to the league and it needs to be solved in the future that it is not possible.

Is that something the club have discussed with the League for next season?

I don’t know because I wasn’t in all these talks. We had a small game on Sunday to prepare [for]. Don’t write it in that way because it is a little bit sarcastic. The club has been in talks with Dundee and the League to see that everybody can play a good football game because that is what everyone wants, what you guys want also and the broadcasters are paying a lot of money for.

What do you expect from Dundee?

They are in the battle for the top six place, which is a huge thing. They go in full in attack, creating a lot of chances, scoring a lot of goals. They have a manager also with a lot of fire inside of him. It is a big test to play against them. It is a good team.

Have Rangers made it clear to Dundee and the league they want a decision today on whether the game will be played?

I don't know. It's my opinion because I want to prepare for the game so if we cannot play tomorrow, when are we going to play? If it's on Thursday, I would like to know today so we can train tomorrow. If the decision is made tomorrow evening, we have one afternoon, evening in the hotel in Dundee for nothing. Lost time that you cannot work with the players so I think it's a logical thing to make a good decision today for everybody. But that's my opinion as a manager and I think every manager has the same opinion about that. I understand that a game can be cancelled last minute or in the last hours in special circumstances but this is something that's just repeated every time it's raining. Then you can make an assessment today I think.

Do you think there should be repercussions for a club whose ground repeatedly fails?

No, that's for the boards of all the clubs in the league to discuss. That's not my role. My role is the sportive side of Rangers. That's not a question for me.

Have Roofe and Raskin still got a part to play?

Of course, like everybody. Maybe they'll be in the squad tomorrow. That depends on positions, how the opponent is, how we are, the form they show in training. I don't have anything to say about that, it's not that they're not performing but there's a lot of competition. This is Rangers and this is what we want, to have competition for spots and that everybody needs to fight for their spots to be in the team or on the bench.

Is Ryan Jack likely to be back before the end of the season?

That's a difficult one. He was on a good way back last week but then he felt again a bit so we are looking now at other solutions to get him back. We lost some time there so we will see. It's week by week looking at the situation and looking at solutions.

What is his injury?

It's a problem with his calf and it's something that's been there for years. It's something that needs to be solved well. I'm not a manager that wants to get a player back for one game and then he's out for three months or he has a risk for the rest of his career.

Are Danilo and Cortes done for the season?

I think there's a big chance that the season is finished for them but you never know if they'll be ready for the last week. For them, it's really are they going to be ready for the last part of the season, it depends if you play a cup final or not and we'll make an evaluation at that moment. It's around that period that they will be fit again so it's difficult to speak about one week or two weeks according to that. We have to see the situation with the squad and how they are.

John Nelms wants to play the game next week if the game is postponed, how would you feel about that?

There are talks between the two clubs and the federation about that. If you want to play in Dundee next week, what's going to happen if it rains next week? It's strange for me because every time it rains there it's a problem. Those are things for the federation to find a solution and a good solution for football and fans.

Would you be comfortable going to a neutral stadium?

I think in this circumstance, it can be a logical choice.