Patrick Stewart set to reveal Rangers January transfer blueprint as Philippe Clement pleads for reinforcements

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Raging Rangers boss Philippe Clement says he’ll be waiting with interest to see if referee’s chief Willie Collum backs John Beaton’s Easter Road spot-kick call.

The Ibrox gaffer was left fuming when Ianis Hagi was penalised for a trip on Josh Campbell as his side dropped yet more points in their 3-3 thriller with Hibs. Hamza Igamane fired a Leith hat-trick but the visitors couldn’t hold as two goals from skipper Martin Boyle and another from Rocky Bushiri earned David Gray’s team a deserved point.

Beaton’s decision was backed by pundits - including Record Sport’sChris Sutton - but Clement saw it very differently. And the Belgian reckons the Premiership could soon see a spate of penalty awards if the incident is used as the new threshold. Now the under-fire Gers manager - whose side could now drop 13 points behind Celtic after throwing away the gains made with their Old Firm triumph - has vowed to tune in to hear Collum’s thoughts when he sits down for his regular VAR review show at the end of the month.

He’ll also get some feedback this week when they Key Match Incidents panel made up of former pros and officials give their take on Friday. Clement said: “Giving penalties like this, then you need to ask players with every contact to go down, which I don't want.

“That's not how you want football to be played. That was a very important moment in the game, because you create momentum for Hibs. Yes, I asked the referees why they see it's a penalty, because I need to explain that also to my players. That's an important thing.

“We don't agree for the moment. In that way, we will see how the panel and Willie Collum will say about that. So I'm curious, because if these things will be a penalty, then there will be a lot of penalties this season and the year to come in Scotland, I think.

"Is it the frustration of the high on Thursday and getting that from one, in terms of the belief and the confidence amongst the players, that this result takes some of that away? Yes, it doesn't take away belief or confidence.

"Of course, everybody's down now, because you want these three points, you give everything for that, they gave everything for that. To get that, they showed also a lot of good things, a lot of positives. So it's frustrating not to get the rewards that you deserve with the performance that they made today. So in that way, yes.”

Gers looked in total control after Igamane fired them two-up inside 20 minutes. But they lost control after Boyle netted just before half-time - with Hagi’s foul giving the Aussie international the chance to level.

Even then, Rangers got themselves back in front as Igamane made it 10 goals in his last 11 games. But Bushiri headed home with seven minutes left to heap fresh frustration on an Ibrox boss who has watched his team win only three of their 10 away league games this term.

Meanwhile Clement’s injury issues piled even higher as Dujon Sterling limped off. He was already without captain James Tavernier, Jack Butland, John Souttar, Leon Balogun and Nana Kasanwirjo for the Hibs clash and now faces having stand-in skipper Nico Raskin suspended for Thursday’s trip to Dens Park.

There appears to be no respite ahead, with Clement confirming Souttar still faces “several weeks” out yet. Now he insists it’s down to new CEO Patrick Stewart to set out whether he’ll get his wish for reinforcements this month.

“That's something that Patrick will address towards you guys,” he said. “He wants to give that explanation what is the plan for January. Every manager feels that [they need more], and for sure in the situation we are. For the moment with injuries and everything, but there's also the situation of the club. You need to pay it also, and I'm not the one who can pay that. I don't have that money.”

Quizzed on the knock which forced Sterling off, he added: “I don't have a clue for the moment. Dujon got a kick on his foot. He had to come off because of that. So we will see how serious the injury is. I don't know if Leon will be back, and for sure not others. So we need to puzzle towards Thursday, so we will focus on that the next couple of days. John will be still several weeks. He will not be back in a short time.”

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