Philippe Clement pays Celtic kudos after Old Firm classic but Rangers boss knows who real derby 'winners' are

Philippe Clement believes his Rangers side showed “power, resilience, personality and mentality” in abundance to earn a draw against Celtic following a breathless six-goal thriller.

The Ibrox boss felt his players’ second half performance proved their title credentials, having trailed by two goals at the break as they battled back to claim a welcome point. The Belgian underlined his side’s ability to carry out his half-time message, confessing they are displaying signs of “potential champions” against a worthy title race foe.

Speaking on BBC Scotland, Clement stated: “I don't know if it was classic but my boys did something special. We show our real quality and personality. We get a well-deserved point. We are more the winners of the day. It could have been more, but I think the result is also good.

“They took the message [at half-time] in the best way they can and showed who they really are in the second half. We showed a lot of power, resilience, personality and mentality. There's a lot of positives. We showed we deserve where we are in the league, we need to be at the top.

“It was important to have Abdallah Sima back. I'm happy with what he could give today. Rabbi [Matondo], we've been working a lot on these actions and having more control in his finishes. I'm really proud of him, and the whole team.

“We're in the place we want to be. We managed to change the scenario in a really good way. It's the form of potential champions, but we have a tough challenger. It's good for Scottish football to have two teams with this quality.”