Philippe Clement takes pride in Rangers performance and admits disappointment they didn't defeat Spurs

Philippe Clement took pride in Rangers’ 1-1 draw with Spurs in the Europa League but believes his side deserved all three points for their efforts.

On a dramatic night at Ibrox, Hamza Igamane gave the hosts the lead with a well-taken goal just after half-time but Dejan Kulusevski equalised for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Rangers had the better chances, and Cyriel Dessers was denied a late winner, but had to settle for what will be a valuable point as they aim to reach the last 16 of the competition.

Clement was thrilled with how his side approached the game and emphasised how far the team had come since a summer rebuild.

“I’m very proud about the performance,” the manager said. “It’s the way we want to see football being played.

“But also if you see where this group of players is coming from, from scratch just a few months ago, making performances like this now, it’s a big, big step forward.

“On the other side I’m also disappointed that we didn’t take the three points.

“That we didn’t grab it or that it was just saved at the end. That would have been even better and would have been the result that we deserved today from the performance that the players gave.”

While domestic form has been uneven throughout the season, the best performances have come on European nights and Clement admitted that this was the pick of the games so far.

“That’s true,” he said. “Although in the last few weeks we’ve also had good performances domestically.

“Like Ross County was, in the circumstances, a good win and Kilmarnock also.

“But European nights give something special. It doesn’t mean that domestically isn’t important.

“We did really good things in Europe until now but domestically we need more consistency and what they showed in the last couple of weeks is how we need to continue.”

The Belgian thought that it was crucial that his side had belief they could achieve something against the English Premier League opposition and that it had been evident in how everyone had taken on the challenge.

“The belief is there,” Clement said.

“You cannot play at this level if you don’t start the game with belief.

“To dare to play in that way against Tottenham without belief is impossible.

“If there’s one player on the pitch who doubts about it, everything falls apart.

“So the belief is there already for quite a while. It’s about doing it every time, doing it every three days.

“That culture we need to create in the team, that thing we need to create also with their bodies to become strong like that, to do it every three days. So yeah, that’s a job we have to do with all staff.

“But you see that everybody buys into the story and that you see also really good football.”

Clement also thought that the result had benefits that went beyond just his own club.

“I don’t think it was only important for Rangers,” he said.

“I think it’s also important for Scottish football that people see that there’s good football being played in Scotland also.

“To compete with a top side from the Premier League, it’s a massive thing.”