Rangers reveal plan for 18y/o after Philippe Clement's big heart-to-heart - 'I believe really hard in him'

Rice has emerged as one of Rangers brightest prospects and the 18-year-old was handed his first start for the club for the Spiders. However, Clement replaced him at the break for Nicolas Raskin with the scores level as the Rangers boss chased an opener against the Championship outfit.

Rangers went on to lose 1-0 and crash out of the cup in embarrassing fashion, heaping intense pressure on Clement. He takes his team to face Hearts at Tynecastle in the Premiership on Sunday lunchtime and while Rice may not retain his place in the starting XI, he remains firmly in Clement’s thoughts. The Belgian revealed that he held talks with the youngster to explain why he was replaced against the Spiders.

"Of course I spoke with Bailey Rice, like we speak with the other players in the other weeks,” said Clement. “I know there is concern from people about Bailey Rice being taken off at half-time and the effect it will be on him. I can say that there's no reason to have any doubts about that. We had a meeting with Bailey like we do with other players also, individually. And it's always collectively and individually with players.

“Brian [Gilmour, youth coach] is doing that most of the time with the young guys, with the second team. I'm involved when they play in the first team. So we did it together to have the consistency in the story. Bailey was the first one who was not happy with his first half. It's normal, he's 18, he's the first time at Ibrox, he's a lifelong fan. There is a certain tension around that.

"It's a player I believe really hard in. I don't give easy chances to 18-year-olds in a big European game or to start games like that. Bailey played an okay game, but the quality that he has and the specific quality that will make him a top player for the future, he didn't use in this game.

“That's his really good passing and his passing forward to breaking lines. After the game, you can say you should have played with Bailey Rice more. But then I would have had the question why you don't put the experienced Nicolas Raskin in at the halftime. Was that a mistake made? So that's afterwards, but Bailey is very motivated and hungry.

"He feels my confidence, he feels the confidence of the staff. And I'm very sure also after this meeting, because that was interesting also to see how he reacts in that situation. He was very mature, very understanding what he did wrong when he saw himself. And he will learn out of this and it will be a good experience at the end. This one that makes him better, so no doubts about it.”

In terms of team news for Rangers’ trip to Hearts, Brazilian forward Danilo could be in contention after hurting his shoulder last month.