Philippe Clement has spoken to the media following Rangers' Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic. Here is everything he had to say.

What are your thoughts on the game?

All my thoughts? How much time do you have? The general thought is that you are disappointed that you lose because I think - no I don’t think, even people of Celtic were saying that and they are not really neutral – that we were the better team today. In that way, it is mixed feelings. You are disappointed because you do everything to win and everyone worked really hard for that the last weeks, last months. I am also proud about what the team have showed today. Do we need to take steps? Yes. We get two shots on target today, we get a goal. We created six shots on target. We need to score in that moment. If you have the scenario also that you score goals and they are disallowed in that way, that is also in that moment a disappointment when I compare with the push that Scales gives to Dujon Sterling in the first half. It is a much bigger push than what happened with Joe Hart. If I see also how all the Celtic defenders are grabbing my players and having their arms around their neck, around their waist, it is a really big call to make to disallow that goal.

Have you spoken to the referee since?

Nothing special. It is their decision. They are honest, they make their decisions. It is a grey area that one. It is not white or black. So he made the decision. Of course as a manager you are disappointed about that after the game.

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Do you feel you did enough to win the game?

I expected more from my players coming in because you feel in that moment we were grabbing the game and there was a lot of space in the transitions. We didn’t kill it off there. I know where players are coming from. We had a lot of talks about that, you guys asked a lot of questions about that the last couple of weeks, months, about the injuries. I know the squad is not at their best now, some players are coming out of injury and that you see in the decisive moments. A really fit Sima or really fit Matondo will finish off one of those chances, for sure. That was not the case. I think all the group pushed the last piece of energy out of their body the last couple of weeks and now it is about rebuilding the squad, making the staff also better around the team to go in the season next season that it cannot happen anymore where we have 10, 12 injuries at the same time. That is a crucial one. In those moments you need to bring in fresh players who can make the difference and in that way it was difficult today.

Have you seen enough in these tight games against Celtic that those steps can be taken?

It is about the one small detail today. One small detail and one big decision. Otherwise you go 1-0 in front and we were the better team in that moment and there becomes even more space. I don’t think that we could have done much more. Yes we could have done some things better but that is on the other side the same. I don’t think they expected this kind of game today. The team is taking steps. It is now about taking the right decisions in the next weeks how to rebuild the team and make it stronger for next season.

Does Jack feel he should have done better for the goal?

No I don’t think so. It is a really difficult shot. Jack was in the rest of the game really good, and Joe Hart was really good. So, no. I don’t think… You can always say details and he should have pushed the ball to the side but the ball was really going like that. That is an unlucky moment.

Did Celtic’s fresher legs get away from your players?

We had those moments in the second half also. The game became more open in that part of the game because people get tired on the other side also. We had those moments also in the transitions to be decisive. We had also a few chances in that way but we were not clinical enough.

Is this going to be particularly difficult to take compared to other defeats to Celtic?

I hope not. This needs to give them fuel to come back in the summer to work really hard in preparation because they feel how close it is and to next season win those kind of games. That is taking the experience. Look also at the age of the two squads today. They need to take this experience and take fuel out of it to become better, to work hard, to get the details. I have seen a lot of details becoming better the last couple of months. If you see the game they played now today, I don’t think anybody expected that six months ago that they could play a game like that. In the end, you want to win of course. It is about grabbing these moments and that is also quality. We are going to work on that.

You must believe your players would have grown had the goal stood?

I am sure if we score the 1-0 that we would score the second one and win the game. You felt, everybody felt, that we had control of the game and Celtic were getting really tired. You need players in that moment. A fit Rabbi, you saw that their right full-back was really tired. If he is really fit, he takes him one against one and makes a decisive action. He comes out of an injury of six or eight weeks, it is normal you don’t have your normal fitness. They all gave their best, they all went full. It is not about creating a squad next season who is much more fit all the season and that you don’t have this juggling with players.

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What kind of challenge is it to build the squad?

It is a massive challenge because there is not much time. That is the reality. You have qualifying games for Champions League in August, you have five league game also so that is nine games in four weeks. You need to rebuild the squad. We have several players out of contract who will leave the building so you need to replace them without money coming inside. That is also one thing. We need to be really inventive in our transfers and doing the smart things. It is going to be really challenging but we are busy already with that for months within the club. You see already that we bring in Jefte yesterday, who is a young player, talented. They will need also their time to adapt. How long? That is always difficult to predict. Some players they adapt really fast, some players need more time but we are working hard to get more quality in the building.