Dundee vs Rangers: Philippe Clement wants to see a "firm reaction" ahead of Scottish Premiership match
The Scot Foam Stadium passed a pitch inspection on Tuesday ahead of Dundee vs Rangers; the fixture had already been postponed twice due to heavy rain; watch it live on Sky Sports from 7.30pm, kick-off 8pm
Wednesday 17 April 2024 11:53, UK
Rangers manager Philippe Clement wants to see a "firm reaction" from Rangers ahead of their rearranged Scottish Premiership match with Dundee, live on Sky Sports.
Rangers go into the game - live on Sky Sports - four points behind leaders Celtic after defeat at Ross County. Meanwhile, Dundee have already secured their top-six spot with a draw at Aberdeen.
County delivered a body blow to Rangers' Scottish Premiership title hopes on Sunday with a stunning 3-2 victory, their first-ever win over the Ibrox side.
It was a performance and result that drew criticism from Sky Sports' Kris Boyd.
He said: "When you're in a title race you need to win football matches. That's a fact. It's all well and good Rangers getting back into a title race but once you're in it, you have to win it by going to places like Ross County and winning. Rangers were so far off it in the first half and you could see the warning signs. They could never lift it after that."
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And, Rangers boss Clement wants a reaction.
He told Sky Sports: "We were all disappointed [vs Ross County]. We've spoken about what mistakes we've made and how we can do it better. It's the first time in six months I've seen us have an off day like that. We did make some individual mistakes but also collective mistakes we haven't done before. it was important to talk about that. I expect a firm reaction, I've felt that in the dressing room and in training. Everybody is ready to show their real face."
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Dundee boss Tony Docherty feels his side have faced just as much disruption as Rangers as they look to end the campaign strongly. He told Sky Sports: "There's been disruption. Let's be clear the disruption has been as bad for me as it has for them. Our players kept focused in the Aberdeen game where we got a clean sheet to get us into that top six.
"It was huge disruption in terms of preparation and organisation. It's on me as a football manager to make sure there is laser focus from the staff and squad - and we did that in such a massive game."
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'Urgent Dens Park work needed'
Following the second postponement last week, Dundee club secretary Eric Drysdale admitted the club must address issues at Dens Park and told Sky Sports News: "I can understand people are annoyed and looking at this as being Dundee's fault.
"What I would say is from the research we have done in the last few days, we noticed this year's rainfall was 35 per cent higher than the last 10 years' average - that shows the effects climate change is having on it and we need to urgently do more work on the Dens Park pitch and we are absolutely up for doing that in the summer.
"The pitch is of a very good quality, there have been a number of occasions where our fixtures have coincided with, for example, the storms last October which was the highest rainfall ever recorded in Scotland.
"It is very clear work needs to be done to rectify the situation and we absolutely recognise the challenges we face and the club is up for doing what is needed."
Rangers hit out at 'negligence and unprofessionalism'
Following last week's call-off at Dens Park, Rangers said they had written to the SPFL regarding the developments and in a statement added: "The negligence and unprofessionalism demonstrated by Dundee Football Club, where they have repeatedly breached SPFL rules, continues to have a damaging effect on the top professional league in the country.
"In a week where record TV viewing figures were recorded for a match in the same competition, and this evening's game due to be televised again by Sky Sports, this episode is deeply embarrassing and has also been eminently avoidable.
"At this time, we sympathise fully once again with our supporters, approximately 4,000 of whom were looking forward to attending tonight's game. Having already been left hugely inconvenienced and out of pocket by the first postponement last month, it is entirely unacceptable and disrespectful on the part of Dundee FC to have allowed this situation to have developed again."
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