Rangers boss takes no excuses from opposition team

The Rangers boss is furious that his team’s preparations ahead of their Scottish Cup semi-final with Hearts have been disrupted because of the rearranging of their match with Dundee.

With the Premiership encounter called off for a second time yesterday, it means the match will be played on Wednesday, April 17 with an 8pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.

Clement insists this is a disadvantage to his team amidst the run-up to a massive game on April 21 for his team.

And he’s not having any of the excuses for the waterlogged pitch coming from those in charge at Dens Park.

“It was a crazy situation because it was not a surprise,” he told Sky Sports. “It could have been avoided with a faster decision to play at another venue. That should have been organised before to have a plan B and plan C.

“It’s now postponed and I understand the frustrations of other teams (in the hunt for top six). A very strange situation.

“We cannot put the blame on the weather. In the same evening, a local team played in Dundee and the pitch of Dundee United is perfect. They play every week. So we cannot say it’s because of the weather.

“We have no guarantee it will not rain next week. The last thing I hear is that we will hear on Tuesday at 12pm where we will play on Wednesday, but for sure it needs to certainly be played on Wednesday because we have an important Scottish Cup game on Sunday.

“Playing later than Wednesday would be crazy. It has already impacted our preparations for the semi-final. That is a disadvantage for us.