Philippe Clement Rangers presser in full as boss admits his principles have been 'thrown away' for key Ibrox reason

Philippe Clement has revealed he has had to ditch some of his own principles since arriving at Rangers.

The Ibrox gaffer addressed the media for the first time since his side were confirmed runners-up to Celtic in the race for the Scottish Premiership title after the Hoops got over the line on Wednesday night with a thumping win over Kilmarnock. 24 hours earlier the Light Blues signed off at Ibrox for the season with a 5-2 win over Dundee - having trailed by two goals at a point in that one.

Injuries have been a big issue for the Belgian since he took over the top job in Govan from Michael Beale and he was forced into changes yet again during the midweek triumph. Ahead of the season finale at Hearts tomorrow and Scottish Cup Final with Celtic next weekend, he's been boosted by being able to call on Abdallah Sima and Ryan Jack at Tynecastle. Both are available for squad selection and play some minutes which will be music to the ears of the Ibrox faithful. Leon Balogun is also not far away with question marks over his involvement tomorrow still remaining with a call to be made at the last minute.

Normally, Clement would demand players trained between 7-10 days on return from injury before being considered for selection in his teams but given the nature of the crisis facing the Rangers boss, he has had to ditch that rule over the past couple of months. He explained: "Sima will be back in the selection to play some minutes but very little. But it is his first step again after his injury. Ryan Jack the same. He can also be selected for a few minutes.

"Leon Balogun is still a question mark. We will see how he is tomorrow. He is also close to coming back into the squad. But that is just after a few training sessions.

"I have had to also throw away some principles in this situation. Before players would have to train at least one week to ten days with me before they were selectable. I can't follow these rules the last couple of months. I didn't have a choice otherwise we wouldn't have a selection to play the games."

Sima - bar his time injured - has had a largely successful spell in Glasgow on loan from Brighton. He's netted 16 goals in all competitions. Plans for the summer window are already in progress and when asked the attacker beyond the end of the current campaign, Clement remained coy in his response. He said: "That's about us, him and Brighton. We are really happy with what he has showed and see someone with potential to grow.

"He's very happy in this building but there is a club that is his owner. So you need to find an agreement. We will see what will happen there. You don't know what way that will go. It depends what the months are and what we can pay."