Legendary Rangers midfielder drives misfiring Dessers to hit 40-goal mark next season

Former Scotland and Rangers midfielder, Ian Ferguson, has backed Super Eagles striker, Cyriel Kolawole Dessers, to hit the 40-goal mark next season, Soccernet.ng reports

The Nigerian striker joined Rangers at the start of the season from Italian side, Cremonese, in a deal worth about €5m, and ended the season with 22 goals and eight assists in 52 games for the Gers.

However, the numbers don’t tell the full story, as the 29-year-old striker was criticized by the Ibrox fans for his lack of clinicality in front of goal.

Ferguson, who won five titles during his spell with Rangers, praised the former Feyenoord man for his total output this season and urged him to do more in the next season.

“Everything now is about stats and if you look at his, they’re good. Scoring 22 goals is a respectable total. Plenty of strikers would be happy for that in a season. If he took penalties, he’d be around 30. Knowing Scottish football and what he’s up against, if he has a better strike rate, he could go out next season and get 40. Of course, everything you hear about him is that he gets a lot of chances and misses them, but that applies to a lot of strikers. Maybe he hasn’t scored as many as he and a lot of supporters would have liked,” the three-time Scottish Champion said in quotes revealed by Football Scotland.

Dessers, reminiscing on his first season in Rangers colours, claimed that he felt scapegoated, and wasn’t given enough time to settle in. Ferguson, on the other hand, believes the criticism comes with the responsibility of being the main man in attack for the Scottish record Champions.

“The Rangers centre forward’s jersey is a big one to fill and that’s why I think he’s not had a bad season. What I like about the fella is that he stands up to be counted. There’s plenty about him to admire. He doesn’t hide if he’s having a bad day. He always gives 100 per cent, he puts a shift in and he gets himself into positions. If you look back over the season, he’s scored goals in big games – the double in the semi-final that got Rangers through to the Scottish Cup final, against Servette in the Champions League, away to Betis in the Europa League,” the 57-year-old added.

Dessers ended the season with a bitter tongue, picking up an ankle injury in Rangers loss to Celtic in the Scottish Cup final.