On Sunday, the forward scored as Rangers defeated Livingston handily at Almondvale.
Cyriel Dessers was happy that his goal celebrations at Livingston were not interrupted by VAR.
However, the Rangers striker said that he was devastated to witness Ross McCausland’s huge Light Blues moment destroyed by a trial by tape. Dessers acknowledges that he held his breath after Livingston’s opening goal because he thought it might be one of those days. By then, Rangers had already had a goal disallowed and been handed a penalty, which James Tavernier failed to convert.
The Nigeria striker got his rewards, but then McCausland came a cropper after his impressive finish ended up in the bin when referee Steven McLean spotted the slightest of pushes in the build-up, and VAR gave the decision the seal of approval. It looked a harsh one, just like the decision to allow Rangers’ penalty when McCausland went down, but Dessers is convinced the youngster’s quest for his first goal is only on hold as the kid is destined for big things.
The frontman said, “Was I disappointed in Ross? Oh, definitely. We see our quality in training every day, and I think everyone has seen it in the last few games.
“We all hoped for him to score his first goal, but with his qualities, I’m sure the goals will come very soon for him. How good can he be? That’s a difficult question, but I think he has it in him. I think he has the qualities to be a very, very good player for the Rangers.
“Of course, he has to grow and develop, but I think he has it in him. Also, he has a good mentality, and he’s pretty calm about everything that is happening because it’s not easy for a young player to come into a team like the Rangers. He has a good head, so I think he is going to grow and become important for us.”
Dessers was just relieved his strike stood, and Rangers came through a tough test unscathed. The attacker was also grateful to Tom Lawrence for a sublime ball to tee him up, and he said, “It’s a tricky one to celebrate; it’s hard after a goal these days. But I don’t think there was anything in the build-up to my goal, so I wasn’t worried too much.
“I saw Tom with the ball and I know he has a pass that can tear open a defense and I made the run at the right moment and was able to take it on my left foot and it went in. Obviously, it was a very happy feeling to finally get 1-0 on the board. It was fully deserved after our performance.
“Tom’s passes are his main quality, and that is something that suits me very well. I am strongest with my face towards the goal, and if I can make these runs and he can find the passes, it is good for me. I am very happy that he has the assist and I have the goal.
“When you come here, you know it won’t be an easy game. We knew that, so we tried to go hard from the start. I think the first half was very high-paced, and that’s what we wanted. We scored some goals, and some were disallowed. I was lucky that mine stood! So I think we can be very happy with the performance, especially after the week we had.”
Dessers had a fairly miserable start to life at Ibrox but the belief is returning along with the team’s. He said: “Obviously, my confidence is better now but I think the team is playing better at this moment, and as a striker, you are always better when the team plays like this.
“It makes it easier for a striker. I am pretty happy with the last couple of weeks. We have had some really good performances. We have won a lot of games.
“This was a tricky match just before the international break because if it went wrong, you would be stuck with that feeling for two weeks which is rare for Rangers because we always seem to play every three days, so we really wanted to end well and show the manager that we have been listening to him and we wanted to keep going and to keep the momentum.”
The West Lothian win made it a perfect five out of five in the league under Philippe Clement as well as progress in Europe. With all that was going on with the disallowed goals and missed penalties, Dessers admitted those were the kinds of knocks that derailed Rangers earlier in the season.
But not now. He said: “Yeah, I think so – it’s maybe difficult to find one answer for that, but obviously we feel the team is more confident now. If something goes wrong or against us, it’s no problem, we just keep going, we keep the pace high and we try to take away the belief of the opponent.
“It’s all about keeping this momentum. It’s never easy after a European success, a big win on Thursday, and then you have to go again on Sunday.
“This was a tricky game but I think we handled it pretty well. The energy was there from the first moment and the first half was really fast-paced and that’s how we can hurt opponents.”
READ NEXT:
Be the first to comment