Clement's facing an emotional day at Rangers

Mar 25 2007 By Graham Hill

ALBION defender Neil Clement heads for QPR next week looking to revive Baggies' promotion hopes - but part of him will also be carrying his family name with pride.

Whenever Clement goes to Loftus Road, he knows the home fans regard his late father Dave as one of the finest players ever to pull on the blue-and-white hooped shirt.

It was one of the game's saddest losses when Clement Snr took his own life in 1982, believing his career was over after suffering a broken leg.

By coincidence, Baggies servant Clement will play at QPR on the 25th anniversary of the day his father passed away.

It will be a special moment for Clement who admits that Rangers hold a place in his heart for obvious reasons.

The 28-year-old has played at QPR only twice for Albion - the last time was six years ago when Baggies lost 2-0.

Now that the teams find themselves in the same division again, the fixture list has conjured up possibly the most respectful and fitting of matches for the Clement family.

Dave Clement spent 14 years at Rangers, making 472 appearances, and also won five England caps. He was only 34 when he died and the Albion star, just three at the time, has admitted the tragedy brought his family closer.

"I always like playing at QPR, what with my family connections and my dad playing there for years," said Clement.

"So I love going to QPR and trying to do my best.

"The fans remember my dad very well at Rangers and I hope some of that comes out whenever I play there.

"I'm proud of what he achieved. Everyone tells me that if I'm half the player he was I'll have had a great career.

"That's why I always want to go there and do well. I will always have a bit of a soft spot for QPR, but obviously I will be looking to beat them next week even so."

Clement did not find out the details of his father's death until he was 10 but, when he was loaned out to Reading by Chelsea, it upset his mother Pat as they play in the same colour shirts as QPR.

Neil's thoughts will surely be with her too as he turns out for Albion on Saturday and it would be the perfect result if he were to get on the scoresheet as Baggies took three points.

Clement marked his seventh anniversary at The Hawthorns this week - something of which he is also immensely proud.

When he arrived at Albion in 2000, again on loan at first from Chelsea, Gary Megson was battling to save Baggies from relegation to the old Division Two.

They survived with a last-day-of-the-season win over Charlton and Clement has seen the club's reputation rise ever

since. He has been there for it all. Three seasons in the Premiership, a play-off place, two promotions and the Great Escape mean that life has rarely been boring for Clement.

"Since I've come here, there's been something at stake every year which has been great for me," said Clement.

"As a player, you want to be in games where it means something. When I first came here, there was huge pressure on us to stay up.

"It was such a big club looking at relegation to what is now League One. Now the club has changed completely. The stadium, the training ground - it's all different. And we have better players. I am proud to have been a small part of that.

"When we stayed up in 2000, we had to beat Charlton who had already won the league and they were up for it on the day. We were really hungry too, though, and there was only going to be one team who won it.

"That was a great feeling to stay up. I'd left Chelsea where things were beginning to take off and come to a side struggling against relegation. But it was the best move I ever made.

"It's given me the opportunity to play regular first-team football at a big club. When I left Chelsea I told myself that I wanted to get back up to where they were.

"I have done that by playing in the Premiership, but now I want us to get promoted again and stay up this time.

"We should be doing what Charlton and Bolton have been doing for years.

"That's the aim and there is still a lot to achieve with this club. We were gutted not to be able to stay up last time - we probably had a better group of players than we had when we went down before.

"If we do go up, we'll be better equipped than we ever have been.

"Looking at the players we've got, this is the best we've played since I've been at the club. It would be the best quality too as we have so many international players here, and they all want to be in the Premier League."

Clement knows Albion have to win every game between now and the end of the season if their hopes of automatic promotion are to be revived.

And, even though many of their fixtures against promotion rivals are behind them, Clement knows that the strugglers are fighting to stay up.

Next week's opponents, QPR, are a perfect example.

They have picked up recently under former Villa boss John Gregory, taking a point off promotion hopefuls Derby and hammering Leicester at the Walkers Stadium.

"We may have come through the tough times, playing Sunderland after the Middlesbrough FA Cup tie and going to Wolves where we could have won 5-1 but for the goalkeeper," said Clement.

"You take that on the chin. Then we had the better of the chances against Birmingham.

"There are positives and we are hungrier than ever, but it will be a big ask to go up automatically."