The Ibrox side had the chance to close the gap on Celtic and Aberdeen at the top of the William Hill Premiership to just three points after the top two had battled out a 2-2 draw at Parkhead on Saturday. But instead, the defeat left Rangers six points behind after eight league matches, only a point ahead of fourth-placed Dundee United.

Clement appears to have the backing of the Rangers board for now but he is struggling to retain the support of the fanbase with many now calling for a change after a series of setbacks and poor performances.

His year-long tenure started with a League Cup final win over Aberdeen and a 17-game unbeaten run but dropped points against the likes of Ross County and Dundee in the closing weeks of last season cost Rangers a shot at the title.

They also lost the Scottish Cup final to Celtic before going down 3-0 in the opening Old Firm derby of the current season to leave Clement’s record in the all-important Glasgow derby standing at four defeats and one draw. A tame exit from the Champions League at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv was a further black mark as well as the goalless draw against Hearts on the opening day – the only point that Jambos collected from their opening six games.

The Belgian has won only nine of his last 18 league matches and league sponsors William Hill have set odds of 5/4 for the 50-year-old to be sacked before Christmas. Chris Sutton, the former Celtic striker turned pundit, reckons Clement could be relieved of his duties before Halloween if things don’t improve quickly.