Clement on Rangers title belief and Cifuentes and Jack hopes

Here is everything he had to say.

How were the celebrations after Sunday?

Good but in a controlled way so it was interesting to see but it was good to see the players didn't forget there is a game on Wednesday. They enjoyed it, it was really fun for me also to see them in that way, to see them with their families, that was the first time so it was really good.

How precious was the moment with the trophy back at Ibrox?

Very special. Every trophy is really important. After your career, the moment you stop you always remember those moments. It was the same in my playing career, you remember your teammates that you played with when you became a champion or you win cups. You remember these evenings and the things that happened later on. Those are the memories after your career, not the games in between. It's those moments you need to grab the most.

What's the mood been like in training?

It's a strange question. I've had this question a few times in the last couple of days. If this team doesn't have belief they wouldn't have done those things in the last week so the belief is there, there is no doubt about that but it's about giving confirmation every time and keeping that belief, keeping our standards and raising our standards and being ambitious and being hungry. Without belief, you cannot win in Betis and you cannot win this cup final so belief was there. We didn't need the cup final for that.

What's your message been to the players in terms of what comes next?

That we step back into our marathon. We had two sprints last week and we step back into our marathon. It's about seeing who's sharp and who's good. We play five games in a short time so it's impossible to play the five games with the same players. We need to make the right choices and the players show themselves to me and my staff that they are ready to play.

How big an opportunity is it to cut the lead to two points?

It's the same opportunity as one week ago, as nine weeks ago, as it will be in nine weeks or ten weeks. It's the same, it's about three points, there is no difference in that so it's one of the 38 games that you can get three points. We just want to keep our rhythm that we're having and we want to be there again like we'll have to be at the weekend. We know in this marathon, there will be one moment that it will not be the case and you guys will be the first ones to say, 'Oh, they've stopped now with their rhythm.' It will not be the case with the mentality that's here now. We just continue what we've been doing in the last weeks and go forward.

How do you get your players up for this game?

I think it's a logical thing when I came into the club the confidence was not there but I saw what I saw in the games and the first days in training. I think every experience makes you stronger. The strongest teams I played in were teams that were together for two or three years and those were teams that had a lot of experience together. Good but also bad because you not only become stronger out of good experiences but also out of bad experiences if you take the right conclusions together. Every experience with this group will make it stronger and winning in Seville, winning a cup and winning the first silverware, proving a lot of things that had been said not so long ago about these players that it was wrong. They need to continue doing that and keeping this hunger. If they keep the hunger, if they keep the collectivity also and this solidarity that it's not important to start or not to start, that they understand the story and it's not about them but about the team then we're going to make an amazing season, I'm confident about that. The moment players start to think about themselves and to take themselves out of the collective, it will be more difficult. Then we will speak with them, it's going to happen, I'm not naive and I know if there is success there are also people around the players who are influential or who try to become influential more and more. We have to make it clear it's about the collective and if the collective is good then the individual is also good because it works like that in a team sport.

Will you look to make changes tomorrow?

I've changed every game until now. I don't think I've played two games with the same team and to be honest I don't know. I think it's the case until now. I will see what's necessary for this game and also thinking for the games ahead. That's my job not only to look short term but also long term what's necessary for the team, for the squad, for the dynamic, for everything and to win games and to play good football. That's my responsibility.

Do you have any players who might return tomorrow?

No players who were not available for the cup final, there are no other players coming back.

Do you have a time scale for Jose Cifuentes?

No, I don't have a timescale but a few days ago we were told it was worse. Now he got a good reaction after rehab so I hope he can be back before the winter break.

Ryan Jack?

We will see if it's before the winter break or not.

Is Kemar Roofe ready to start games?

He's not ready to play 90 minutes so then it's my choice to make if he starts or not.

Is it fair to say things couldn't have gone any better for you since you arrived?

No, because we lost some points along the way so it could've been better.

Winning a trophy and winning your Europa League group?

I'm happy, let's be clear about that. I'm most happy because of the players. It's the players who have made a big change. I see a totally different dressing room than a few months ago in everything, in energy, in belief, in communication, in fighting spirit. I'm really happy about that because it's really short term to change these things and there's not one manager in the world who knows how fast things can go. It's about the reaction of other people, how they react to the story. I know what we want to do with them if they step a good way into it, then it works. I know it's about the players, they have to do it. The whole group has done it, I don't have one player in the dressing room who's not into that story and who's not ready for the team at the moment so I want to keep that as long as possible. The guys who find difficulty with that, they'll put themselves out of the story. I'm really satisfied about that at the moment and if you do those things and you have enough talent then you get results, it works that way.

What constitutes an amazing season, becoming champions?

I'm not thinking about that because that also depends on how many points other teams take. We need to be on our toes every day to get the best out of ourselves so we will see at the end of the road what the result will be. The game of football is also a game where the factor of luck is sometimes determined in things. I said it already in different sports like basketball or volleyball, these kinds of sports where you score a lot of points is less determined than football where the result is only decided by one or two goals and that makes the difference of winning things or not. In that way, you can do a lot of things well and perform really well and maybe someone has a little more luck and wins a trophy so we need to focus on the things we can control. That is our job and that is what we will do until the end of the season. 

How impressed have you been with Dujon Sterling? 

Impressed is maybe not a good word as then you did not have that belief before. I think my English is not as good to go into that much detail about words. I expected it from what I saw in training, and I told the club already that he is going to become a really important player for me in the future. 

What sort of test do you expect from St Johnstone? 

A hard battle, I saw the game against Celtic. They are a very well-organised team and have a lot of power in transition play and from set pieces so it will be a big test three days after the cup final. It will be a big test in the mentality of the team to see after the satisfaction, which they deserved and I told them to enjoy Sunday evening, how fast can they switch? For me, the top sports mentality can switch really fast. They can be happy but the next day they are back in the winning mode to focus again and concentrate again. Their bodies are prepared, and it will be a big test tomorrow. 

READ MORE: Philippe Clement makes Rangers demand as boss targets further silverware successes

What do you make of the standard of Scottish football since you have been here? 

It is really comparable with the Belgian league and if you want to compare to then you need to look also that how teams play in Europe. I do not like to throw everything in one bag, so I think there were interesting things in Europe from Scottish teams, and I know the league is what I expected. It is comparable with the Belgian league, and they are both leagues which do not have the most money and have to be smart and develop players while looking also to produce players. For me there is one disadvantage between the Belgian league and Scotland and there might be an interesting moment to talk about that. Of course, there are a lot of teams fighting to stay in the league, so they are focused on results. In Holland, a long time ago, and in Belgium in recent years, they put the best under-21 teams in the second league, and it helped to develop young players. If you see our national team, our golden generation, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, and all these other players, they have played in the second league first before they went to the first team and because of that you have better development of young players. For the moment, I do not think enough young Scottish players are given chances because of all the pressure on the Scottish teams to stay in the first league and it could be an interesting one for the future. 

How do you feel about the support the fans gave you after a big victory? 

It is not the first time as we have already had a few moments, like the Sparta Prague game for example, so it did not surprise me. I have said a few times that those are the things why I want to stay as a coach. Nothing is as nice as being on the pitch and I think as a player you have more control over things as a manager now more than guiding everything. I think as a player you can be decisive in scoring the decisive goal. The feeling I had after the game, you cannot have that another way in this world. I enjoy it really much. I did not do it enough during my career and I did not do it enough in moments afterwards as a manager as I am always thinking about the next thing already and it was the case on Sunday. I am now more aware that I need to enjoy that moment also and I did so it was really good. 

Is Bailey Rice a player in and around the first-team squad and is he likely to get a chance soon?

 I do not like to speak about players, but I will speak about Bailey. He is a really talented player and I think he has a future at this club but there are some points we need to work on between academy football and the first team and for sure that is a really important step to make. If he makes that step, then he is going to be pushing for a place in the first team. 

How important is it for academy players like Ross McCausland to be involved in celebrations like Sunday?

 It is crucial for everything, it is crucial for Ross as like I said before, every experience makes you stronger and it is like your life also. A young journalist is different to the other journalists who are more experienced in some situations. It is the same for us but for the academy, it gives them hunger as they see now Ross performing in that way and winning trophies. They were celebrating with the team after the game and the last trophy they won the fans were downstairs so these are really great things for them and great experiences.