Philippe Clement makes demand of Rangers stars after Nice Europa League rout

Rangers boss Philippe Clement has lauded his team's dominant 4-1 Europa League triumph over Nice as their finest display this term but says now the Gers must keep on winning. Amidst challenging times on the domestic front, the team produced a brilliant display on the continent for their Belgian manager.

The game featured stellar contributions from Vaclav Cerny, Mohamed Diomande, and Hamza Igamane, with the latter bagging a brace. With this victory, Rangers now sit comfortably in eighth place in the Europa League table, accumulating 10 points from five games.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Clement declared: "I think if we look at the opponent, yes, because of their strength, I think in Malmo (2-0) against FCSB (4-0), we had also really, really big performances.

"But knowing the level of Nice, this is probably the best performance this season. But the season is still young in a way. We talked a lot about that, about young squad, a lot of new players in.

"If you see how many new players were on the pitch today, only two months, three months, some already four months. But it’s still a short time at the club."

Clement was full of praise for Igamane's first European start, after the young striker stepped in for Cyriel Dessers. "He came in with an injury. He missed all the preparation. He doesn’t have experience at this level.

"We’re working hard on him with all staff, to make him stronger physically. He made really big progression in that way, and also tactically, doing the right things for the team, and that’s why I gave him the chance today, because I saw the good things in the last couple of weeks, getting better and better in training."

Clement believes in giving opportunities to see players' potential: "And like I said before the game, it’s my job to give these chances at this stage to see what players can bring.

"And he showed what I expected. But you never know with the young player, he can be also caught up in the emotions after his first chance (got caught in possession inside the Nice box).

"But he didn’t do so that’s a big thing. You need characters like that to play for Rangers, because you can never be impressed by occasions."

Looking ahead, Clement mentioned that Brazilian striker Danilo will be back for the upcoming Scottish Premiership game against St Johnstone on Sunday, as he is not part of the European squad.

Clement observed Dessers' underwhelming performance as a substitute against Nice, where he missed a crucial opportunitya nd added: "There will be competition between them, and it’s about seeing whose in the best shape at one moment."

"But that’s never a decision for weeks or months. That’s showing it game by game."

Rangers are currently nine points behind Aberdeen in the Premiership, having played one less game, and 11 points behind their Old Firm rivals Celtic.

Clement aims to use the recent win as momentum for the remainder of the season. He said: "Yeah, we need to win. That’s clear. We need to win, and we need to perform well, but not only on Sunday but also on Wednesday and then again at the weekend."

"So I don’t want to see players who are in a satisfaction mode. They can be happy after the game, but I want to see hungry players who have desire to become better and better, what I’ve seen until now."