Philippe Clement explains Lawrence Shankland hug as Rangers boss admits eagle eyes mean he dare not pick his nose

Philippe Clement has played down his post-match hug with Lawrence Shankland, insisting it was "nothing special" and that all the Jambos felt the love in midweek.

Fans were quick to attach significance to the Rangers boss' embrace with the Hearts hitman. Shankland has been touted for a move to Ibrox, and Clement admitted he was an "interesting" player prior to last month's Viaplay Cup semi-final, admitting that he was aware of Shankland from his time in Belgium with Beerschot.

But Clement denied that Shankland got any special treatment and it was simply a standard interaction following the Light Blues' 1-0 win in Gorgie, and similar with some of the Scotland international's Tynecastle teammates didn't get the same attention. After a bite to eat in a Glasgow restaurant was enough to create headlines, Clement joked that he'll now have to watch every move he makes in case he ends up inadvertently creating more stories.

"You guys have written a lot about that already. I'm never going to speak about players that we're interested or not interested in. I hear that some people really watch me a lot. I knew it already in this city because I go one time in a restaurant and it's also all over the news, so it's a little bit special in that way.

"I need to think really good in the future about what I do. Every second of the day. I don't want to be in the same situation as the German national coach (former Germany boss Joachim Low) that I take something out of my nose or something! Clearly I need to watch out really hard for what i'm doing here. I greeted all the players of Hearts that I met along the way. It was nothing really special."