For the future is one really excited about

Ryan Jack has only played four games for Rangers boss Philippe Clement, but it’s enough to convince him that he wants to stay for the long haul.

The Belgian has been careful not to promise a quick fix for the underperforming Ibrox club and Jack is reassured by that.

He signed a new one-year deal with the Light Blues last summer and would be delighted to extend that.

But he knows there won’t be contract talks anytime soon.

The most important thing, both he and the manager agree, is to keep winning while slowly changing the way the side develops.

He said: “You want to be at the top for as long as possible.

“There will probably be a chat but I wouldn’t imagine it will be anytime soon.

“Maybe after Christmas and New Year, we will see where we’re at. See what the club’s vision is for next season and the season after.

“We’ll take it from there. I’m quite relaxed about it. I was in the same situation last year.

“I love playing for the club and you want to stay at the top as long as you can. We’ll see what happens.”

The midfielder is clearly enthused by the arrival of Clement.

He said: “A lot of the time when a new manager comes in, there’s a lot of excitement, it’s a new voice and a new training regime.

“When he came in it was exciting for us all because of the way he spoke. He had that aura about him.

“He has a vision for us week by week, month by month.

“He said that it won’t be overnight, that he just clicks his fingers and everything is going to be fine. It will take time.

“At a club like this, you don’t get time to bed in. You need to win straight away.

“I think the manager has been really good with that.

“He has come in and told us he’s going to put his points across, but he hasn’t put it all across at once. He said that week by week, we’ll get better and he’ll get more things across, but the main thing is that we still have to win in this period – we can’t be using that as an excuse not to win games. “I think he’s done that brilliantly.” Their victory over Sparta Prague the other night kept their hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the Europa League very much alive.

It was a win heartily celebrated by the supporters and reminiscent of the mood created when Rangers went all the way to the final of the competition in 2022.

Jack, 31, sees the comparison, but is quick to emphasise that a lot of hard work lies ahead.

He said: “It’s a different sort of circumstance. It’s the group stage and we knew that if we won, it would go a long way.

“We have another home game (against Aris Limassol) that we need to go and win if want to get through the group.

“But I thought it shows that going from domestic to European, we can handle it.”

Playing Livingston away today will be a big indicator of how well equipped this refreshed Rangers

team is to switch between the Europa League and the SPFL.

Jack said: “After the Sparta game, the manager said: ‘I know you probably want to enjoy the night and enjoy the win, but our thoughts are straight on to Livingston’. “That’s the type of manager he is. “We were straight into work on Friday, getting prepped and ready.

“A couple of years ago we had the highs when we were doing well in the big European nights and then had to play Sundays. You have to recover quickly.

“Hopefully that experience is going to help us.”

The midfielder hasn’t always been ready to go again but he believes previous injury problems are behind him.

He said: “I’ve seen people in the past who helped me massively. A guy that I worked with down south for a couple of years now.

“But, in general, I just work hard in training and work hard in the gym.

“Touch wood, it has been going me well for me over the last year to 18 months. I haven’t missed too much football and hopefully that continues.”

Danilo has come back in fine style from a recent facial injury and Jack believes the Brazilian is now showing his true ability.

He added: “He has worked hard in training and away from the club when he was injured.

“He’s getting the rewards of that and looks like a totally different player.

“Long may that continue for us because on nights like this, when he’s on his game, we look like a totally different team.”