‘I expect more’ - Frustrated Rangers boss Philippe Clement slams first-half display in Sparta Prague stalemate

Frustrated Philippe Clement wants to see more from his Rangers players after declaring their first-half performance in the goalless Europa League draw with Sparta Prague was ‘not what I want to see’.

The Ibrox boss took charge of his first European match in the Czech capital on Thursday and came away with an ‘important’ point, insisting he learned a lot about his side on a difficult night.

Visiting goalkeeper Jack Butland made a string of important saves to keep the Gers in the game on several occasions during the opening 45 minutes, but an improved second half showing almost saw the Glasgow giants snatch a late winner.

Scott Wright, Sam Lammers fired over from promising areas before substitute Danilo had an angled drive tipped onto the crossbar in the closing stages. Clement was pleased with the reaction of his players at the break but is demanding more from them.

He admitted: “It’s a very important point, they are always really important away from home in Europe. But I am a winner, I want to win always. I want my players to have the same mentality and I saw it after the game. They were disappointed they hadn’t won and that’s the mentality we need for the next few months.

“In the circumstances we can be happy with the point against a team that plays good football. The second half pleased me, the first half totally not. We talked about that during half-time, it’s not what I want to see from my team.

“It could have been a win for us, it could have been a win for them had they taken their chances in the first half, but the reaction in the second half was really good and we need to build on that. It’s impossible to create a story in ten days. Technically, I expect more than we showed today. In the first-half we had too many loose passes.

“It’s week by week looking at the details and developing as a team. I see at the moment a really good mentality in the whole squad and that’s what we need to keep.”

Clement switched to a 3-5-2 formation after tinkering with his line-up and it was evident that certain players weren’t used to playing out of their natural positions. Ben Davies slotted in at left-back instead of playing his favoured centre-back role due to a lack of options in that area, while attacker Abdallah Sima was asked to play an unfamiliar wingback role.

“It has been a special week because we lost three left full-backs,” Clement added. “Because of that we had to change our system. Doing that in just two training sessions is very difficult for any team in the world.

“I was very pleased with Ben. I want everyone available for the team and those who have come in during training and they will get their chances in the next few weeks. The chances will come if they show themselves because we have a lot of games. When you see the circumstances, I am really happy with Ben, but also Sima who is not used to playing a wing-back role.

“He did a great job defensively. That’s what I want to see, a team that fights for each other until the end. That’s now two clean sheets in a row and if you do that you will take a lot of points from the season. But I don’t want a team that only plays for clean sheets and only defends. I want a team that plays good football and creates chances.”