Philippe Clement has told his Rangers players that they have to show more ‘fire’ and be more aggressive if they want to play for the club, with the Ibrox manager outlining how angry he was with his team as they trailed Dundee at the interval of their eventual 5-2 victory.

Clement’s men were trailing by two goals to nil before Ross McCausland kick-started a comeback that was completed after the interval with further goals from Cyriel Dessers, Todd Cantwell and a double from substitute Scott Wright.

But Clement was still fizzing after the match by what he had witnessed from his team in the opening 45 minutes when they were out of possession, and he served a reminder to his squad that their efforts were far below the standard expected at Rangers.

“With the ball we started with good intentions from the start,” Clement said.

“In the first half there was a lot of movement with the ball with good combination play but not enough efficiency in the final third. There were a lot of positive things but not without the ball in the first half.

“At the end of the first half, we came out behind although we were better on the ball. That’s of no use if you aren’t good enough without the ball.

“So, I was really angry about that at half-time because football – and they know – is about both sides.

“In the second half, you saw what they can do if they are focused on both things. But I cannot make myself angry every half time or before every game. That’s impossible.

“It needs to come out of the team. They need to understand that and take confidence.

“This is the perfect example today. Booed off the pitch at half-time. And a lot of applause after the game because people how they saw the team playing, how the scored and how aggressive they were in the duels and how they didn’t concede in the second half.

“This is the perfect example. I am going to put a lot of attention to that again to get it out of these last two games. But it needs to come out of the players.

“It’s not also about 11 players in the first half. These are individual things. The players, and I told them also, if you want to play for a team like Rangers, that’s the basics. That needs to be there every time.

“If you want to play for a team who ends in the [bottom] half of the league, yes you can have one moment yes and one moment no. Here, it’s all the time - switched on, aggressive in everything you do, with and without the ball.

“We need to build a squad like that where everybody has this internal fire to do it every day and in every game.”

Clement is adamant that his men will have to work like top players if they are to become top players, and if they are to have any chance of wresting the league title from Celtic next season.

“They need to take the right lessons to be really top, top players and to become a top, top club,” he said.

“We are going to work hard altogether to get that.

“You see again today the potential but being a top player, and that is the difference when you look at the Premier League, the top players are the ones who are there every time with and without the ball. Both, not one thing.”