Philippe Clement says he ‘congratulated’ Tom Lawrence after the Rangers playmaker impressed in a deeper role against St Mirren at Ibrox on Sunday.
After a couple of disappointing draws against Aberdeen and Aris Limassol, this was more like it. Hardly Rangers’ most convincing or free-flowing performance of the campaign, but a big improvement on recent outings. And with Jose Cifuentes struggling again when Aris came to town, the sight of Tom Lawrence thriving in a deeper role in midfield should have the Ecuador international rather concerned for his place. Especially Clement speaking in glowing terms about the way Lawrence adapted to a position Cifuentes is yet to make his own.
Tom Lawrence thrives as Rangers beat St Mirren
“I congratulated Tom after the game,” Clement tells Rangers Review, the Glasgow giants triumphing 2-0 thanks to a pair of Abdallah Sima goals and a pair of Todd Cantwell assists.
“It’s not his normal position but I’m looking for solutions with Ryan Jack out, with Nicolas Raskin out and with Cifu coming back from injury. And I was really happy with how Tom performed today. Because of him we could keep a high tempo on the ball and it’s difficult for opponents.”
With Cantwell and Sam Lammers competing for the ‘number ten’ spot, Clement may have stumbled upon a way to shoehorn Lawrence into the same XI, the former Man United prospect possessing the passing range and the technical ability required in a deep-lying playmaker spot.
‘Interesting’
“To win in that way and almost give nothing away while having control of the game and getting good chances, I am really happy with the players starting and the players coming in,” Clement adds.
“There were also a couple of interesting things such as Tom Lawrence in a new role. Okay there were some different circumstances with the injuries, but we had to find solutions and he played a really important role in the football we wanted to play.
“It is very important that everyone is available for the team in every position, and they are doing that.”
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