CYRIEL Dessers has attributed his improved performances up front for Rangers to the arrival of new manager Philippe Clement in the wake of the Ibrox club’s Viaplay Cup victory and pledged to maintain his current form.
Nigerian striker Dessers struggled to justify the £4.5m transfer fee which it took to secure his services this summer immediately after he arrived in Scotland and soon found himself out of the starting line-up.
However, the former Utrecht, Genk, Feyenoord and Cremonese forward has scored important goals in cinch Premiership wins over Livingston and Dundee and in the Europa League triumph over Real Betis in Spain in recent weeks.
He played his part in the 1-0 final victory over Aberdeen at Hampden on Sunday.
Dessers has revealed that Belgian coach Clement, who took over from Michael Beale back in October following a disappointing run of results, had brought out the very best in him.
“It felt amazing to lift the cup,” he said. “When you arrive here at the club, you get a tour of the trophy room. At that moment, you realise what this club is all about. After a few rocky months, it felt amazing.
“I am definitely over the rocky period. It started when the new gaffer came in and started to get new energy into the team. We started to play better and it’s easier for a striker to play in a team that’s in a good shape.
“There were some hard moments, of course. But did I feel I could turn it around? I had a similar situation at Feyenoord. When we got to the October or November, there were some rumours around me. At the end of the season we got to the Conference League final and I was top scorer.
“There is a reason Rangers bought me and these qualities have not gone. I just need to show it on a weekly or twice weekly basis and continue to be important for Rangers. We are growing and there is room left to grow and get even better.”
Dessers had an opportunity to break the deadlock in the second half of the cup final when he broke through on the Aberdeen goal – but he was denied by Kelle Roos and admitted he was pleased when James Tavernier finally netted shortly afterwards.
“The keeper made a good save with his shoulder,” he said. “It was an unbelievable save. I was just happy our skipper could finish the job.”
