The alternative Rangers Scottish Cup XI as painful French memory offers hint at how Clement will go

Philippe Clement says he'll mix it up against Queen's Park – but it won't be just the kids for Rangers as they look to keep their last realistic hope of domestic silverware alive.

Callum Davidson brings his Championship side to Ibrox looking to spring the upset of the round but they find a Rangers team starting to find their feet at last, and in serious need of a cup win with their fading Premiership hopes accelerating away from them. Clement says he won't give up on the league just yet – fans wouldn't stand for an open admission to the contrary even despite the 11-point gap to Celtic – but deep down, he'll know the Scottish Cup is his one real chance of winning a trophy this season.

He says he won't be prioritising the cup as far as his team selection goes, and also vowed to strike a mix of youth and experience to give his team the best possible chance of progress, while also being fair to give the rising stars a chance. And there's one painful memory from his time in France he's keen to avoid a repeat of.

While in charge of Monaco in 2023, his side were humbled at the hands of second-tier Rodez despite being 2-0 up – eventually going out on penalties. And Clement said: “My memory of that match is I put too many young guys in to give them a chance. The experienced players in the team didn’t perform as they should have done to help the younger guys.

“On that day, the other team was 100 per cent efficient and had the day of their lives. So I know that cup games can always present something dangerous. You need to balance things really well. It happened to me once, so I don’t think of it as a warning for our game on Sunday.

“I had a lot of cup games that went a different way, both with Monaco and other teams. But it’s