Philippe Clement has spoken to the media after lifting the Viaplay Cup. Here is every word he had to say.

What is your reaction to that win?

Excited, of course. Really happy and proud also. If I see the path that the team has taken in the last nine weeks, everyone sees a team who is growing. It is not easy after a historic win on Thursday, in an away game in Seville with the travelling and everything, to have the same focus that they had today. That was a main, main thing for me also and they did a brilliant job. Aberdeen is a really hard team to beat, a team who is really structured. They love to defend and play very direct. We took out also really good transitions and created really good chances. Unluckily the goalkeeper had a really big day today but in the end we deserved this victory very clearly.

What can this big week do for the confidence of the players?

It gives, of course, a really positive confidence but in football it is about confirmations. You can have a lot of confidence and then you start to run next to your shoes and then you come in trouble. It is my job to keep everybody’s feet on the ground. But this evening they can enjoy and then tomorrow I will be the strict one again.

How pleased are you for James Tavernier?

Very pleased, not only for him but for everybody. Tav has showed really good quality in the last couple of weeks, he has been one of the leaders in the group to push, to perform, to be important, to take responsibility in every moment. He has never been hiding when we wanted to play, he has been important with assists and goals. We need to continue that.

Do you feel you have broken that barrier now and you can go from strength to strength?

I believe in that. If you feel this, it creates a certain hunger for more. That is my mentality and always how I have been. I see this more and more in the dressing room. It doesn’t mean we are going to win all the games all season, that is not realistic. But we need to push to win all the games all season and to try to get that. If you have this mentality with the way we want to play football, the way everything is analysed with the quality we have, we can do really good things.

Can this trophy drive your team on in the league?

It can, but football is always confirmation. If you have satisfaction in one moment and are happy with how things are, you can go down. That’s what I want to see in the next week, the next month, this hunger and desire to be better. I want them to work hard to be in the team, to be competitive and I want this mentality that is in the dressing room now. I didn’t see one player this week disappointed that they didn’t start. Everybody was supporting the team and everybody was ready when they came in. If the players keep that mentality until the end of the season, you always have a great season. I will push really hard towards that and if there are players with other ideas, they will put themselves out of the side.

What was your priority with the players when you were appointed?

It was a lot of things at the same time. I wanted to make them more brave on the ball and to give them a clear structure of how to play with and without the ball. It was about creating synergy again with the fans and giving them confidence in themselves and in each other. And also getting a better connection between players. It has been a lot of things.

Fans might not believe you don’t have magic wand? 

It’s not about me, it’s about the players. They’ve done it. I didn’t kick one ball, or do one sprint or one tackle. It’s been the players. We have done it together with a lot of people, with the players, the staff. It’s not only me. I’m the one who speaks a lot to you guys, but there are a lot of people in the dressing room working hard with the players and doing the right things. I’m a guy who needs more of a helicopter view to see if things are going well. That’s going to be my role in the next couple of months. 

Do you have a message to the fans?

Keep this happiness – and that they see how much the players want it. I know the synergy was a bit gone not such a long time ago. I hope also this gives some credit for the difficult moments that will come in the season and that the fans stick behind the players. Because I can promise one thing. It will always be players on the pitch who have been working hard during the week. That promise I can make. If they push the team through the difficult moments, we can do extra things.

Do you feel the door has been opened in terms of trying to get the Premiership?

It's a different story. This week was a sprint, all or nothing for the Europa League or the Conference League, although we knew we would have something. This was really a sprint, all or nothing. We managed to do that really well. The championship is a marathon. It is a long period. We need to focus on one thing in a marathon and that is on ourselves, not the people in front of us or behind us. That doesn't matter. It's about us. It's about getting that rhythm and pace. That is the only thing we can do. And then you can ask these questions two or three games before the end and we can start to talk. But there is much to do.

Are you surprised you have taken the team so far in so little time?

That is a difficult question because I don't have expectations about that. I work from day to day. It's about making the players ready in every sense to play good games. To make them better technically, tactically making them better, physically making them better and mentally making them better. How fast they respond I can never know. I can't know how it will be next week and how they will respond after these two successes. It is about them showing that to me. If they don't show quality then I have to take the ones who will show quality. So I don't have expectations in that way but I know what to do to win games and to make things really clear for the team. That is what has happened in the past and that is what we are going to do.