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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Clement salutes 'biggest fan in stadium' Souttar for Rangers support from bench

Philippe Clement reserved special praise for John Souttar after the stunning victory over Real Betis - even though the defender didn't play in the match.

The centre-back was part of the matchday squad but didn't come off the bench in Seville as Rangers claimed a crucial 3-2 win.

The result sends Rangers into the last 16 of the Europa League but just as pleasing for Clement was the attitude displayed by his players.

The Ibrox boss hailed those involved for being brave and playing as a 'team with balls' in the triumph on Spanish soil. However, he also heaped praise on the attitudes shown by those not involved directly in the match.

Naming Souttar individually, Clement praised the Scotland international for being "the biggest fan in the stadium" for his fellow team-mates.

Speaking on TNT Sports, Clement said: "Everybody is fighting for each other. Everybody is doing the job and really hungry when they come in to the team.

"There are no unhappy faces. I saw John Souttar being the biggest fan in the stadium from the bench for the other guys.

"That's the mentality I want to see and if you do that all season, you always win trophies."

On his side's performance, he added: "You saw a very strong performance from my team. I wanted to see a team with balls, a brave team. A team who wanted to create and score goals, not only defend against a class team.

"I got what I asked for from the boys. I gave them several challenges these last couple of weeks and this was by far the biggest one. They stepped again over it and I'm really happy with the performance but also the mentality which was really great.

"We need to stick to these things and keep them in our mind. If we do that all season then you will always have a good season."

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