'Not a big gap': Rangers manager defiant after Celtic loss

The Belgian concedes that going down to 10 men after John Lundstram's red card in the 2-1 defeat on Saturday made the task incredibly difficult for his players in Glasgow's east end.

Like Celtic earlier in the campaign, Rangers have found themselves in a situation where they have 11 first-team players out of action for tomorrow's penultimate Premiership game of the season at home to Dundee.

The likes of Connor Goldson, Leon Balogun and Abdallah Sima were all on the sidelines for the massive derby encounter.

While Clement recognises that Celtic was on top on Saturday and is likely to go on to lift a third successive league title, he believes there is not much between the teams.

He has challenged his players to back up his point in the Scottish Cup final 2024 on Saturday, May 25 at Hampden.

"We always look back on the game," the 50-year-old said. "We had some chances in the opening stages, but to go in at HT with ten and 2-1 down makes it much more difficult to get the end results. The team showed a lot of resilience with the ten in the second-half.

"If we are both fully fit, there is not a big gap but we need to prove this in results on the pitch.

"We need to grab our moments, that is part of top football. We had our chances to score the first goal, we need to take these moments."

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On the injury situation, he added: "We have 11 players missing tomorrow, this is a major thing that we need to change heading into next season. There is going to be a turnaround in the squad this season, we have been working hard on this for months.

"It is important for now to focus on our next three games, we have to make the best with the players available. There is a chance for players to show on the pitch the next few weeks.

"Souttar, Goldson, Balogun, Sterling, Lundstram, Lawrence, Cortes, Matondo, Sima, Danilo & Rice will all be missing for tomorrow."