The Light Blues, who haven’t won the competition since March 2011, will play either Aberdeen or Hibernian in the December final for the chance to win the first trophy of the year if they defeat the Jambos at Hampden Park tomorrow.
Since replacing Michael Beale as manager last month, Clement has led his team to three straight victories. Therefore, he was not amused by the notion that his players will be even more motivated against a team they coincidentally defeated 2-1 in the Premiership final at Ibrox last weekend.
“My players should be driven to make the most out of every day because their football careers are so short and fleeting. They have the best life ever, and I want that from them.” After that, the other things happen.”
After missing the 5-0 victory at Dundee in midweek, Clement disclosed that defender Ben Davies is still doubtful due to a “small problem.” Attacker Tom Lawrence’s return is “possible but not guaranteed,” and John Souttar, Nico Raskin, Rabbi Matondo, and Kemar Roofe are still sidelined.
“I loved when we came outside for the warm-up in Dundee, you see a lot of Rangers supporters, a lot of atmosphere, songs, chants, support for the team.
“It gives the team energy. The pyro thing we don’t need. It doesn’t give something extra. It is dangerous. So if they give all the other things I will be a very satisfied manager.
“It is good that there is rules because it is such a dangerous thing. I have seen it a lot in the past but it is good that there are strict rules because we need to avoid danger for people.”
Hearts boss Steven Naismith said: “The last couple of performances have been good and the confidence is there…we took a lot of confidence and positives from last Sunday’s game.
“It was a really tight game. We scored a good goal and could probably have done better with a couple of other opportunities we had.”
“The last couple of performances have been good and the confidence is there,” stated Hearts manager Steven Naismith. “We took a lot of confidence and positives from last Sunday’s game.”
“The game was pretty close. We had a few other opportunities to score and should have done better, but we still managed to score a good goal.
