Philippe Clement expects Rangers to show ‘best level’ against St Mirren

Philippe Clement is looking for Rangers to get back to their best against St Mirren on Sunday following their Europa League struggle against Aris Limassol.

A 1-1 draw with the Cypriot side at Ibrox on Thursday night means Group C will go to the final round of fixtures, with the Light Blues taking on Real Betis in Spain on December 14 knowing that only a victory can guarantee progress in that tournament, with a Europa Conference League spot secured as an insurance policy.

Rangers turn their attention back to cinch Premiership duty with the visit of third-placed Saints, and Clement’s side will be looking to keep the pressure on leaders Celtic, who are eight points ahead at the top of the table having played a game more.

The Gers boss said: “It was the first time that I felt real disappointment in the dressing room, they were not happy with their performance.

“That is a good thing that they were not happy with their performance, but now we need to stand up on Sunday and show our best level, with what we are going to need to win that game.

“It is about making the mind-switch really fast every time and not to lose confidence for whatever reason, and go full out and get the three points from the first second the game starts.

“St Mirren will make a wall and make transitions and set-pieces like we have a lot of games in the Scottish league. So there will not be a big difference in that way and they are going to fight.

“For them, games against Rangers are maybe the biggest game of the season, so we know that.”

Defenders Leon Balogun and Ridvan Yilmaz are back in contention after missing the Aris Limassol match as they are not in the European squad.

Centre-back Connor Goldson returns from suspension and winger Scott Wright could be back from illness and a muscle problem, but Ryan Jack (unspecified injury) and fellow midfielder Nico Raskin (knee) are still out.

Clement is likely to make changes for the visit of the Buddies.

He said: “We have work to do but we are nine games together and we haven’t lost any.

“I can tell the fans that everyone is working hard to raise the level.

“With all the injuries, it was impossible for all the players to play at their best level. We play every three days and we can’t always have the same XI so we need to rotate players.”