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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Stewart Wilson

Philippe Clement expecting fully-loaded Ibrox as Rangers manager embracing positivity

Rangers manager Philippe Clement is relishing an Ibrox triple-header as the Light Blues balance European and domestic duties this week. 

The Copland Road stand at Rangers' home ground is finally set to fully reopen when Hibernian come to town in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

Rangers were forced to play several fixtures at Hampden Park earlier in the season due to delayed construction works, but returned to their beloved ground versus Dundee last weekend, albeit with only 33,665 inside the stadium.

This time around Ibrox will be packed for clashes against Hibs, Lyon and St Johnstone, and Clement is sensing a shift towards a more positive mood amongst Rangers supporters as each game passes. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Rangers boss said: "It's amazing. We were already so happy that we had part of Ibrox last week, and you felt the joy with the players, with the staff and with the fans. 

(Image: Sky Sports) "So now a full Ibrox, that's why players come here. That's why I like to be here also. It gives us a totally different dynamic and I feel a lot of positivity in the fans now when they see the last couple of weeks. 

"There's been new faces coming in and giving good results and good performances, so I expect a fully-loaded Ibrox on Sunday." 


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Rangers have now won three games on the bounce in all competitions since their humiliating 3-0 league defeat to Celtic on September 1. 

More summer signings have been integrated into the squad, with Nedim Bajrami even netting his first Rangers goal during the 2-0 Europa League league phase triumph over Malmo on Thursday. 

Clement is pleased that patience is now paying off and supporters can start to see a team that they can believe in. 

"The team is growing like I've been saying for a few weeks," the Belgian commented ahead of Hibs' visit to Glasgow. 

"What I said one month ago, that you will see the best Rangers in October, November, is normal. So many new faces, so many guys who need to learn this story together, how to play together in the style that we want to play. 

"In that way, the team is doing the right things and it's about continuing doing that every three days. 

"It's also a big challenge. It's a big difference to teams who play one team a week. We need to show that level every three days. That's what Rangers is about and it's now seeing who can cope with this psychically and mentally also to be on top every three days. 

"For a lot of the guys it's something new, they did part of the preparation or the preparation somewhere else, so in that way we still need to discover the squad."


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Asked about the difficulties in managing his new-look squad through a busy fixture schedule, Clement explained: "It's difficult for every manager. You have performance staff for that, who help in that way and they look and make smart decisions for the long-term.

(Image: PA) "It's interesting. It's what you want. I want to play in Europe, this club wants to play in Europe, so those are also the consequences. But those are positive consequences for me and the players."

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