Rangers boss addresses Jefte transfer speculation and praises SFA 'logic' following Diomande red card appeal

The Ivorian midfielder saw red in the closing stages of the win at Tannadice after an incident with Dundee United defender Kevin Holt, with referee Nick Walsh sticking to his original decision after a VAR review. However, the decision to red card the 23-year-old has now been overturned after the club took their case to a fast track tribunal over wrongful dismissal.

“It’s common logic,” said Clement. “It was common logic for everyone after the game. It is good there is a system you can appeal, it is good VAR did the job during the game. It is good that the system works. It is a big difference that it happened when there were two minutes left in the game. Then it doesn’t have any influence on the result.

“It would have been totally different if this had happened in the first-half, and you need to play a long time with 10 players. Then it impacts the game also, but that was not the case. I think everyone is happy with it. I don’t think there needs to much more communication. It is clear that it was not a red card, and there was a mistake made. It’s finished.”

The Belgian head coach also addressed the future of Brazilian left-back Jefte, who has reportedly been targeted by English Premier League giants Chelsea following his impressive start to life in Glasgow. “Maybe one day, if he makes a normal evolution,” admitted the Rangers boss. “What he has been doing now, I think one day he will be ready for that. But at the moment it is too early, I think this is really good place for him to develop. So it is totally not busy with all these rumours.”

Clement also refused to rule out returns for key duo John Souttar and Vaclav Cerny against Union Saint-Gilloise, after the duo were pictured taking part in training on Wednesday morning.

“It is a decisive game now,” said Clement. “The last game in this group phase, so I don’t want to give my Belgian friends all the tools. They need to work also like me, they will not give me all the tools also before the game. You guys saw some players back in the training, some were doing individual work. So we will see tomorrow.”

He praised the club’s work in tying down talented teenager Findlay Curtis, who signed a new contract with the club this morning after making his debut for the club in last week’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Manchester United.

“It’s another step on where this club needs to go,” said Clement. “Findlay Curtis gets his reward for all the hard work he has been doing the last few years. He is getting closer to game selection, he trains a lot with us and that is the evolution this club needs to make. The crucial thing is the step between the academy and the demands of the Rangers first-team, we need to give them chances, in the correct environment at the correct time.”