Rangers boss Clement bites back at 'disrespectful' Brendan Rodgers Celtic remarks and gives Balogun injury update

Rangers manager Philippe Clement has criticised rival boss Brendan Rodgers over his comments claiming Celtic are going to have a 'bit of fun' during next weekend's Old Firm derby.

The two Glasgow giants will face-off in a potentially season-defining encounter at Parkhead in which the reigning champions can all but secure the league title with a victory. The Hoops moved six points ahead of the Gers following a 3-0 win over Hearts on Saturday before Rangers responded by grinding out a 4-1 success against Kilmarnock on Sunday.

With games fast running out, the Light Blues know a victory is needed at the home of their city rivals to keep their own hopes of reclaiming the silverware. And Rodgers’ comments looking ahead to the game left Clement far from happy.

The Celtic boss stated : “I said before the first six months were a challenge for everyone and everything. But now you start to see a bit more of what a Celtic team of mine should look like. And still with a lot of work to do to get it to that point. But it’s certainly heading in the right direction.

“Eighty per cent of it now is mental. Physically they are in a really good place. This stage it’s all about mentality. You can see mentally we are in a really good place. Take nothing for granted, keep our composure, we have a lot of work to do in the week, get our plan ready. And then next Saturday we can have a bit of fun.”

Responding to those remarks, Clement said: “That is something I would never say about an opponent. We will see. It's not really respectful to my team so I will never say anything like that about an opponent.”

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Centre-back Leon Balogun had to be withdrawn at half-time after complaining of a back issue and Clement has confirmed the 35-year-old now faces a race against time to be fit for next Saturday’s make-or-break clash with Celtic.

The Belgian added: “Yeah, he was injured. It was not the idea to replace him, but we had to take him off. I have no clue for the moment. We will see tomorrow and the days after. What will be the situation, again like always in the last couple of months, everyone is ready to do the job and step in for the team.”