Kevin Muscat in bullish pledge after Rangers snub as Yokohama boss resets with pointed 'keep growing' declaration

Yokohama F Marinos boss Kevin Muscat has spoken for the first time since he was snubbed for the Rangers hot seat.

The Ibrox board have made their final decision on Michael Beale’s successor yesterday with the Australian going head-to-head with Philippe Clement - but the ibrox hierarchy would opt to go with the former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco head coach over the A-League and J-League title winning boss. As the 49-year-old was announced formally as the next Rangers manager, Muscat was leading his side the J-League Cup semi-final second leg against Urawa Red Diamonds.

Despite Yokohama holding a 1-0 lead going into the second leg, Muscat's day went from bad to worse after being KO'd by the Light Blues hierarchy. His side slumped to a 2-0 defeat and crashed out of the competition - leaving the boss to focus on retaining the Japanese league title before the curtain comes down on the campaign in December.

But Muscat appeared to allude to the near miss at Rangers in the wake of the loss - as he pledged to grow personally and lead the club to the title. Asked how he planned to bounce back, Muscat said: "Of course, we have to make a change from this defeat.

"I think it will be difficult to get out of this for a few days. We will not stop here. I will continue to fight and keep growing to do what we're trying to do until the very end. We go to grab what we haven't accomplished yet. I want to do my best to do that."