Clement pleased to see Nsiala coming to the fore at Rangers

The young defender has been forced to step up in an injury crisis.

Philippe Clement pleased to see Clinton Nsiala coming to the fore at RangersSNS Group

Philippe Clement welcomed the emergence of Clinton Nsiala as he pointed to an emphasis on youth at Rangers.

The 21-year-old French defender was signed from AC Milan in the summer and was believed to be a player for the future.

But a defensive injury crisis saw him play his first senior game in the 1-1 William Hill Premiership draw against Dundee on Tayside last week and he impressed in subsequent home wins over St Johnstone and Aberdeen.

Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane, the 22-year-old who joined from AS FAR last summer, has grabbed his opportunity with 13 goals in 25 appearances, while 21-year-old Brazilian left-back Jefte has developed into a key player since signing from Fluminense.

Ahead of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup tie against Highland League side Fraserburgh at Ibrox on Sunday, Clement said: “I don’t like to point out players too much.

“I’m very happy what he (Nsiala) did in these three games and how he worked, how he’s hungry from the day he stepped into the building, it’s now confirming this.

“And it is to stay with two feet on the ground, I have the feeling he does, but I kind of keep a big eye on that.

“One thing that’s always really dangerous is that when there are a lot of articles in the newspapers, and they think they’re better than they are for the moment.

“I’m happy that people start to see the fruits that have been planted in the summer. And there was a lot of criticism about that.

“Why Igamane from Morocco? Why Clinton, who played in youth teams? Why Jefte, who doesn’t have the experience at this level, and they’re young, why do that?

“People start to see the first parts of them growing up, and they have potential to still grow a lot, and they have to, so that’s a positive thing.

“And that’s also the positive thing about the plan we all had together to get this club to the level that this club wants to be at, without spending a lot of money and not buying the success, but developing success.

“So it’s a very positive thing that the guys are making good steps.”

Clement is likely to make a clutch of changes for the cup tie but questioned the idea that it was the perfect fixture to do so as he guarded against the possibility of a shock.

He said: “Perfect? What’s perfect? We need to take this game very seriously.

“Everybody in the UK loves the cup competitions because every year there are surprises, and we don’t want to be one of the surprises or the bad surprises.

“So of course, I’m going to look at that. If there are young players pushing for positions, and they are training well in the last weeks, last months, and they deserve experience, I will do it like I did in all my clubs in the past.

“But I’m not going exaggerate that also. It’s not putting in a totally different starting 11. It doesn’t work.”

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