Clement lauds Rangers improvements after battling past St. Johnstone

Philippe Clement believes Rangers are continually improving after their hard-fought 1-0 away win over St. Johnstone on Sunday.

Former Rangers midfielder Jason Holt turned into his own net just past the hour as that own goal handed Clement’s side their first away win in the Scottish Premiership since September.

It capped an improved week for Clement, whose side thrashed Nice in the Europa League on Thursday to move a step closer to the knockout stages.

Speculation had also grown over the future of under-fire Clement, though the Belgian believes his team are on the right track.

“At the end, it’s also crucial to not concede chances,” said Clement in his post-match press conference. “We have for the second time in a row only one shot on target from the opponent.

“Last week it was a goal. Now not. And we need to continue in that way, keeping clean sheets and being defensively strong.

“I don’t speak only about the defence, it’s the whole team working hard for that. I see a lot of improvements with all the squad in what they are doing. It’s now continuing all these things.

“What we talked about the last weeks and months. The mistakes we made to take it out of the game, you see it less and less, and then to grow like that.

“And then in the final third to sometimes have better positioning, to sometimes have better decision-making also. It’s still a work in progress.”

pic.twitter.com/3XhnLq0WkA

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) December 1, 2024

Victory moved Rangers 11 points behind leaders Celtic and seven behind second-placed Aberdeen, who were held to a 1-1 draw away at Hearts on Sunday.

Leighton Clarkson opened the scoring in the first half, only for Aberdeen captain Nicky Devlin to turn into his own net after the interval.

That result left Aberdeen without a win in their last three games, though manager Jimmy Thelin vowed to get his side back on course.

“You can see the players have the fight for each other,” Thelin told BBC Scotland. “They’re really trying. I liked their approach, that they run so much. They keep running.

“We also need to find the rhythm again, the dynamic of the team. We have the quality, we just need to find the rhythm of the game again.

“Sometimes when the dynamic is there, you lose the ball and the opponents get the momentum too easily. That’s the part we have to improve, because we have done it.

“We’ve taken points away from Hibernian and Hearts this week, that’s a tough week. We want to get to Pittodrie and try again.”