Rangers: Delight at Cyriel Dessers developments as Ibrox supporter factor pays dividends
Derek Ferguson loves Cyriel Dessers' attitude and believes the striker has benefited from the patience shown by Rangers fans.
The summer signing had a tough start to life at Ibrox under Michael Beale, and even now can frustrate due to a high volume of missed chances.
But the Nigerian international has now scored 17 goals this term and has stepped up amid widespread injuries in Philippe Clement's squad while showing an enduring commitment to the task despite difficulties.
Ferguson is delighted by the increasing quality he has shown and feels the 29-year-old's personality has helped buy him time with a fanbase that has high standards, which in turn has helped him improve on the pitch.
He exclusively told Ibrox News: “The thing about Dessers is I love his attitude. I’m even loving it even more because [vs Hibs] he missed one or two but he scored a terrific goal.
“The more I’m watching him, yeah does he miss chances? Of course he does. But he’s always in a position to score a goal.
“At times you’re saying, ‘hit it first time’ but he likes to chop back, but I think he led the line really well against Hibs for a large part of the game. He looks a more confident player, and I think that’s down to the manager as well.
“The fans have been really patient with him. The Rangers fans, over the course of the last number of years, if you’re a Rangers number nine and you’re not hitting the back of the net regularly, they’re on your back.
“Yeah he’s scored 17 goals. He should have a lot more than that, but it’s his attitude, he’s always there.
“He’s there to miss them, and I think that’s important, but he looked really good against Hibs and he’s leading the line really well."
Rangers striker comes on strong for Philippe Clement as Celtic battle heats up
Dessers will probably always infuriate with misses even as he delights with goals as some players are just like that, but the ratio has increasingly shifted in the right direction and it is fair to wonder where Rangers would be if he had also been knocked out by injury like Danilo and Abdallah Sima.
He is starting to get the praise that his endeavour deserves and while he is unlikely to remain the regular first choice under Clement when everyone is fit and the Belgian has had the chance to get a full summer transfer window in at Ibrox there is a good argument that he has earned his place going forward already.
Some fans will have run out of patience months ago but on the whole there has been an acceptance that Dessers is giving his all for the team, and although not perfect that has brought rewards as the Light Blues have surged back into a title race.
Had the striker's emotional celebrations with those Ibrox fans after he seemingly slammed in a quick-fire equaliser against Celtic last weekend not been ended by a VAR review there was every chance the Gers would have gone on from there and won the game to take control of the title race.
As it is the dramatic 3-3 draw and more controversy around the Dundee fixture leaves Rangers a point behind in second, with everything still to play for and plenty of responsibility still resting on Dessers' shoulders.
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