Philippe Clement dug out for multiple Rangers excuses as gutted boss rues average age, rivals spending and squad overhaul

Philippe Clement has been told to stop making Rangers excuses after yet another derby defeat.

Celtic cantered to a 3-0 win at Parkhead to open up a five point gap on their rivals and leave the Belgian still seeking a first win over Brendan Rodgers' side. He was keen to stress how well his side started the game, before claiming the younger average of his squad and Celtic's far superior spending power were factors.

He told Sky Sports: "We know we are at the start of something. 16 players left the club. We have a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys. Look also at the age difference between the starting XI of Celtic and ours. So we know we have a lot of things to work on but we also see the potential that is there. In the first ten minutes we saw that, more in the second half. We need to continue working on that in the next weeks and months to be better in January to take the win there.

"Celtic played today also with a team that's been together for more than one year together. Some guys for two, three, four years. It's normal they have more automaticity. Also when they bring the new ones in that they paid a lot of money for, it's not the same, even now. So we know we have a way to go but we're going to work hard on that."

However, none of that washed with Kris Boyd, who picked apart Clement's average age arithmetic before reminding him that ten minutes out of 90 is no good. And he admitted he doesn't like what he's been hearing from the Gers boss recently, especially in contrast to the noises he made when he first replaced Michael Beale.

"One of the key things that jumps out at me there is average age. Celtic's average age today was 27. Rangers' was 26. It's nothing to do with age," said Boyd.

"I'm fed up with excuses.