Philippe Clement has encouraged his Rangers squad to manage their emotions and cope with the "mind games" in Sunday's Scottish League Cup final with Celtic at Hampden Park.
Whoever wins the latest instalment of the Old Firm derby will be able to claim the bragging rights of having won the most trophies, as both Glaswegian clubs are currently tied on 118 major honours.
While holders Rangers are looking to win a record-extending 29th League Cup, Celtic are hoping to get their hands on the trophy for the 22nd time and for the first time since February 2023.
Rangers enter this contest boating a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, which was extended on Thursday night when they played out a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League.
Despite the quick turnaround, Clement is keen to see his Rangers team build on their promising result against Spurs and is hoping that the emotional aspect of such a huge derby will not get the better of any of his players at Hampden.
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Clement: "For sure there will be mind games during the match"
Asked if it is key that his Rangers side handle their emotions in the final, Clement told reporters on Friday: "It's one part of it, yes, because for sure there will be mind games during the match.
"They need to handle that well. Those are also things you need to prepare as staff that the players know it from before. That's also one part of it.
"It's really interesting all these different parts to prepare and to meld everything together in a really good game. The players did against Tottenham now, so now it's the next game against Celtic."
Asked if the draw with Tottenham will give his side more belief ahead of the final, the Belgian boss said: "If you don't have belief, as a player of a manager, you cannot play like you did [on Thursday]. It starts with belief before the game - not during the game."
Rangers have not won any of their last five Old Firm meetings with Celtic since the arrival of Clement, but he believes that the Gers have "a more energetic squad" than they did last season and have improved since losing 3-0 at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership in September.
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Clement: "This team believes it is making steps in every sense"
"I think we have a more energetic squad than we did last season," said Clement. "That's why decisions were made to rebuild the squad.
"You had last season a squad where we had an older squad and had less legs than the year before. We pushed out a lot last season and in the end the legs were going in maybe the last couple of weeks."
Referencing the Scottish Cup final loss to Celtic (1-0) in May, Clement added: "Last year, with less energy, we were very close and should have won the cup final. The team believes it is making steps in every sense, so it is about doing that again on Sunday."
Clement has also said that he feels "under zero pressure" to end his winless Old Firm derby run, adding: "It's not about me. It's never been about me in this job. It's about the club. It's about the players.
"How do I feel about winning trophies? 200%. About winning games? 200%. That's what I want against every opponent, to do everything to win games and to do that together with the squad."
Meanwhile, Clement has confirmed that John Souttar and Hamza Igamane - who scored against Spurs - will be assessed ahead of kickoff after coming off with injury issues on Thursday.
Oliver Thomas
