Rangers manager Philippe Clement has not ruled out the possibility of signing a free agent after the summer window closed.

Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Parkhead for the first Old Firm game of the season the Belgian admitted that Rangers had to alter their plans to bring in a No.6 before Friday’s deadline.

Nedim Bajrami and Neraysho Kasanwirjo both moved to Ibrox on deadline day but Clement’s side remain light at the base of midfield. Although Connor Barron has impressed since moving from Aberdeen, the club had initially planned to make a further addition in the engine room. 

And Clement, in previewing tomorrow’s meeting with Celtic, has refused to rule out the possibility of looking elsewhere in the market for players without a club to help fill the void this season.

“That's still a possibility, yes,” Clement said when asked if Rangers would look to the free agents market.

“We talked about that in the club and that was the initial plan [to bring in a No.6 to replace John Lundstram]. So we need to now find solutions within the squad to do that, in a different way to before.

“Connor Barron is filling that role. Dujon Sterling can fill that role. Nico Raskin can fill that role. But it's in a different way to Lunny. We don't need to play in the same way we did last season. It's about what suits the qualities of the squad best. And we're going to find solutions for that.”

Clement spoke earlier in the day about his satisfaction with a window that focused on the long term and not just the short. Citing the legacy of players like Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos leaving for free in the past, Clement conceded that Rangers must change their approach to build value for the future to ensure they’re player-trading model sticks. 

However, he was honest in his admission that competing across European and domestic fronts just one transfer window into a rebuild would prove challenging.  On Friday, his side learned their fate in the Europa League with tough draws against Tottenham, Manchester United and Lyon to come. For a new squad that has plenty of questions to answer and injury issues to overcome from last season, the ask of qualification is a big one.

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“That's going to be really challenging,” he said. “So in that way we need to be better than we were last season in the amount of injuries. We will need a good rotation in the squad. We need a lot of work prevention-wise with players, power-wise with players which we have been building on in the last months. 

We're also going to need the players to take good care of themselves with their rest, with their recovery, with their sleep, with their food, with everything, with every detail. They know this. We push this with all the staff. And in that way it's for everybody in every league more challenging than ever. Because it's never been so many games in such a short period.

Until the end of January, it will be games every three days for the internationals. So it’s going to be very important for everybody in the squad to be fit and to be strong and to be ready.”

Rangers travel to Parkhead tomorrow as underdogs having not come out on top in a meaningful domestic Old Firm game for nearly three years. Brendan Rodgers' men could go five points clear at the top of the Premiership with a victory. The last time, bar a 3-0 win under Michael Beale with the title already decided, that Rangers defeated Celtic in the league came thanks to a Fil Helander header in September 2021. Last season their best offering was a 3-3 draw at Ibrox in April.

Clement says he’s unfazed by the notion of being an underdog - citing the small margins in last season’s fixture as evidence of the potential for a big result across the city.

“I don't care what people are saying,” Clement added. “I know how close we were last season, and it was a matter of details in those games. But it's about us proving that on the pitch. So I don't care about what other people are saying.

“I care about what our fans are thinking. I care about that. Because I want them 200% behind this team, behind this squad, to help all these players to get the best out of themselves. That's the only important thing for me.

“I don't like the word underdog, and I never want to be an underdog. I never felt like an underdog. I played with the national team against much better countries but I never felt like the underdog. I don't need that. I don't need the opinion of other people to work hard or to make things better.

“I don't want to speak about that [winning titles]. I want now to focus on this squad and to go full for that. You can speak about titles or trophies always afterwards. The biggest mistake that players can make, or managers can make, and I will never make that mistake, is to look at the end of the road and the trophy that you can get and forget the journey to get there and to stay on that road and to follow that road in the best way.”