Philippe Clement makes intriguing Rangers vow which could suit Celtic to the ground in cup final

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Philippe Clement has issued a vow to Rangers supporters which could see him playing right into Celtic’s hands this afternoon.

The Hoops square off against their rivals in the Premier Sports Cup Final at 3.30pm in the first showpiece of the season.

It’s a trophy Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to get his mitts on after missing out on it last term following a shock defeat to Kilmarnock early on in the competition.

Rodgers has admitted losing out last year does not act as more of an incentive this time round, but any silverware up for grabs should be jumped at.

Despite their third spot in the Scottish Premiership following a miserable run earlier, Clement’s Gers have come into some form in recent weeks with a handful of big victories and decent results including a 1-1 draw with Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham.

Those results, however, could still be a false dawn for Rangers as they come up against Celtic as their next, toughest hurdle.

Their manager, Clement, has often overpromised and underdelivered and now the Belgian has issued a vow that he will not set his squad out to “park the bus” against Celtic when the game rolls around.

He said: “I always want to start on the front foot and win duels. You cannot be dominant, you cannot win games if you’re not in that state of mind because then you only defend and you need to suffer all the time and it’s not what we want.

“We want to create something, I didn’t do it one time in my career, to park a bus somewhere.

Philippe Clement will refuse to ‘park the bus’ for Rangers against Celtic

“So, you want that for a team, it’s important to start like that, otherwise it’s really difficult to make the switch during the game.

“There are some really good teams in the world who managed with a totally different philosophy that I respect because they win a lot of trophies also with that philosophy to defend, to sit in and to wait and when they go behind still to change, some do it.

“It’s not the kind of football that I want to play with my team.”

For any Celtic fan preparing to head to Hampden to watch the game, they will likely be licking their lips at the thought.

Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic manager record vs Rangers

If Gers want to go man for man with the Scottish Premiership runaway league leaders, that should be fine with Rodgers.

Celtic have the superior players in attack and the likelihood is that Nicolas Kuhn, Daizen Maeda, Kyogo and even the likes of Callum McGregor and Paulo Bernardo – if he plays – could have a field day.

Of course, the champions must be at their best in order to completely dominate the action.

But if Rodgers’ record is anything to go by, that should not be too much of an issue.