Bullish Rangers show no Celtic inferiority complex - 'I don't need the opinion of other people to make things better'

Flawless so far this season and already two points clear of Rangers, some would argue Celtic are streets ahead of Rangers on the pitch as well as off it. The lunchtime tussle between two bitter enemies will settle that debate. Some oddsmen have the visitors as long as 4/1 to snaffle all three points back to Govan. Most Rangers fans would happily settle for one.

Clement bristled at the prospect of inferiority with Celtic in his pre-match press conference, unusually held on a Saturday afternoon. "I don't like the word underdog, and I never want to be an underdog," he stated. "I never felt like an underdog. I played with the national team against much better countries but I never felt like the underdog. I don't need that. I don't need the opinion of other people to work hard or to make things better.”

Nor does he care much for the opinion of others. One mainstream bookie has already paid out on Celtic winning the Premiership in the wake of Rangers' opening-day draw at Hearts, which immediately put them on the back foot in the title race. "I don't care what people are saying," said Clement. "I know how close we were last season, and it was a matter of details in those games. But it's about us proving that on the pitch. So I don't care about what other people are saying.

"I care about what our fans are thinking. I care about that. Because I want them 200 per cent behind this team, behind this squad, to help all these players to get the best out of themselves. That's the only important thing for me."

Rangers go into this match on the back of a resounding 6-0 win over Ross County, but with respect to the Dingwall side, this is a significant upgrade in opposition. Clement won't have Bajrami available due to paperwork issues and left-back Ridvan Yilmaz is injured, but apart from those absences, the squad is in good shape. Jefte, Robin Propper, Connor Barron and Vaclav Cerny are set to make their Old Firm debuts and Cerny, a Czech winger, continued the bullish outlook from the blue corner.

"I think the mindset should be that you want to win every single game," Cerny said. "It doesn't matter what game it is. You can call us whatever you want – it’s ok. We just want to focus on what we are doing."

Unlike many of his team-mates, Cerny has fond memories of Celtic Park. He scored for Ajax in a 2-1 Europa League win back in 2015. "It was my European debut and it was a good night," Cerny recalled. "For me, I was more impressed about everything that was going on with me rather than the atmosphere because it was my European debut. I was new to that kind of big stadium, but it was a very nice night for the club and for myself. A very nice night."

Cerny was asked what it would mean to replicate the feat nine years on from that night at Parkhead: "A lot," he smiled.

Fall to defeat and Rangers will be five points behind Celtic going into the international break. Forced to chase Celtic for most of last season, it is a scenario they are desperate to avoid this time around. Clement does not believe the outcome of Sunday's match will have a defining say on the title race – and is banished all talk of silverware right now in his squad.

"I don't want to speak about that [winning titles]," he said. "I want now to focus on this squad and to go full for that. You can speak about titles or trophies always afterwards. The biggest mistake that players can make, or managers can make, and I will never make that mistake, is to look at the end of the road and the trophy that you can get and forget the journey to get there and to stay on that road and to follow that road in the best way.

"I will never make that mistake and I will speak enough with my players that they will not do that also."

Rangers don't have much margin for error, though. Clement accepts there is a negative perception of life at Rangers and he is driven to change that. "There's only one truth at the end, and that's what's happening on the pitch," the Belgian added. "On Sunday, and in the next weeks, and the next months to come. It’s always like that in football. Everybody's working hard to get the best squad on the pitch, to play the best football and to give the fans what they want. I think a lot of people who came to the game against Ross County went home with a really good feeling again.

"Seeing good football, seeing young, excited players, seeing potential for the future with players who can only become better, instead of players who will only become less good than they were, like they had maybe last season in moments. So I think this is a really exciting project for the future.

"And nothing's going to be determined in that way in one game. But it's an exciting challenge on Sunday. Of course, if you can play a really good game, and you can get really good results, then you make a massive step forward as a club."

There would be no time like the present to make such a leap forward.