Philippe Clement has backed Mohamed Diomande to “reach the very top” and insisted that Rangers won’t be the midfielder’s “last step”.
The Ivory Coast under-23 international has scored two goals in his first four league appearances for the Ibrox club since moving to Glasgow in a loan deal with an obligation to buy in January.
Clement has been impressed by what he has seen from the 22-year-old so far and described him as a “high potential” player who will go on to bigger and better things if he stays injury-free.
The Rangers manager was speaking to the press on Tuesday ahead of the league leaders’ game against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Wednesday night.
When asked about Diomande, he said: “He’s a high potential player, and I don’t think that Rangers will be his last step. No, I don’t think so, I’m sure.
“Of course, you need some luck with injuries in your career, but if he stays out of that, he’s going to make bigger steps because he has talents, but not only talent, but also the really right mentality to work for the team, to be very concentrated, to be very focussed.
“And those are the things you’re looking for when you go in talks with players, you always can see what they can do on the pitch or what they are doing and what you think you can improve.
“But the most important thing is how people are ambitious to evolve themselves and how they want to take in information and work around that and is somebody with really high focus on those things.
“So it’s like a sponge [with] him. He will get better and better. The more information he gets, the more experience he gets, the better he will become.
“I think he can (reach the very top).”
Rangers lost at Rugby Park in the opening game of the season, with Kilmarnock also getting two wins and a draw against Celtic this campaign, but Clement says he won’t concern himself with previous results.
He said: “It will be a difficult game and we will approach with respect for the opponent, but we will play our own game.
“We need to adapt to different conditions but the main thing is getting three points.
“It is a different story to the first game of the season – a lot of things have changed since then so we aren’t focusing on that.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
