Rangers boss gives ‘zero’ thought to closing gap

Rangers’ January form results in an accoldate for manager Philippe ClementScottish Premiership: Rangers v AberdeenVenue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Date: Tuesday, 6 February Kick-off: 20:00 GMTCoverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra/DAB/810MW, follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app, watch highlights on BBC One Scotland from 22:40Rangers manager Philippe Clement has given no thought to drawing level on points with Celtic should his side beat Aberdeen on Tuesday.

The Ibrox side reduced Celtic’s advantage on Saturday and have a game in hand, though Celtic will also play this midweek, away to Hibernian on Wednesday.

“Zero. Totally not,” was the response from the Scottish Premiership manager of the month for January when asked how much he has considered the prospect of closing the gap altogether.

“Nobody is talking about that.”

Visit our Rangers page for all the latest news, analysis and fan viewsYou can now get Rangers news notifications in the BBC Sport app – find out moreCeltic boast a superior goal difference of 39 to Rangers’ 37 following Saturday’s results as Celtic drew away to Aberdeen and Rangers beat Livingston.

Rangers won all three of their January Premiership fixtures, as well as a Scottish Cup tie against Dundee, and have won five in a row in all competitions since losing to Celtic late last year.

“It’s a collective award, it’s good for the staff and the good job they did for the players, it’s not an individual prize,” said Clement of the January prize.

Meanwhile, Leon Balogun will miss Tuesday’s match after sustaining a facial injury against Livi and the defender will see a specialist. Ryan Jack will also not feature as a way to manage his return from a recent injury. However, defender Ben Davies is close to a return and forward Kemar Roofe’s fitness is also improving after an injury-hit season.

‘I know Warnock, of course’Aberdeen, who won at Ibrox in September, will have new manager Neil Warnock in the visiting dugout on Tuesday evening, with the Englishman in charge of the Dons for the rest of the season.

Peter Leven oversaw Aberdeen’s weekend draw with Celtic, and the side that Rangers beat in the Viaplay Cup final in December are eighth in the table, a point off the top six.

Clement is “surprised” by Aberdeen’s league placing and does not expect a “totally different style” from the visitors on Tuesday.

“I know him of course, he has a long history in football but we have never met,” Clement said of Warnock.

“He is someone with a lot of experience, but I don’t think it will change a lot. I don’t think Aberdeen will play suddenly in a totally different style. I think the style they were playing is also the style he wants to see, so I don’t see big changes, but whatever happens we are ready for that.

“That is the good thing. The last couple of months we have met a lot of different playing styles and the team knows better and better how to react.

“It is going to be a good battle. They are one of the three, four best teams in the league in quality of squad. It is a team with a lot of quality and we need to be at our best to take three points.”

Our coverage of Rangers is bigger and better than ever before – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a momentEverything Rangers – go straight to all the best content