Rangers half-centurion drops Ibrox truth bomb and reveals key attribute he has learnt from James Tavernier

The 30-year-old helped the home side restore parity just six minutes after Samuel Cleall-Harding had headed the visitors into a surprise early lead at Ibrox, before regular penalty taker and captain James Tavernier handed spot kick duties over to the big Nigerian to allow him to hit his half century of goals from 12 yards in the second-half. A fine Nicolas Raskin strike sealed the win shortly afterwards.

“Obviously, to hit the 50 with a penalty is a good feeling,” said Dessers. “I have to thank Tav for it. Normally he is the number one taker, and he does it very well. There’s not a lot to add, I just want to thank him in this case. We all know Tav also loves his goals, his set-pieces, his penalties, his corner kicks, his free kicks - he takes them all amazingly. To give this one to me, speaks to him as a person and a captain. I’m really thankful for that.

“The way he stays calm, stays focused, is admirable and something all players can learn from. Rangers is a beautiful club, but not an easy club. To be here for more than 10 years, and play 500 games - it means something. His biggest attribute in the dressing room is his calmness. He is never panicking, never stressing. He has tried to transfer that to me.”

Reflecting on his two year spell at Ibrox and his goal-scoring achievements, Dessers admits playing in the royal blue is far from easy, as he opened up on why the pressure of playing for Rangers is both difficult and rewarding in almost equal measure.

“What makes Rangers unique?” he said. “I have played at Feyenoord and Genk in Belgium. They are a top club, they are supposed to win as well, and battle for the league title. If you lose or draw a game there, people are not happy obviously, but they can accept it in a way - and be like ‘next week needs to be better’.

‘When you drop points here...’

“But when you drop points here, in this city, it is a huge thing. That’s very difficult to deal with as a player, but it is also one of those most beautiful things about this club. The pressure to win every game, not even draw. You have to win - and if you don’t win, you will feel it and that is difficult, but also beautiful.

“When you score this number of goals, you have hope you can keep something in your hands as well. This will only give more fuel for the summer though, you work hard and go again in the summer. Never give up. It is something you have to say, as a team, we never gave up. But we know we need to do better.

“The start [of his Rangers career] has been very difficult, not only for me, but for everybody in the club. If I look how the team was playing at that point, it was a difficult time for the staff. It is normal as a ‘new’ player, as a striker, you struggle as well.

“But if you look from the moment Philippe [Clement] came in, I started scoring and if you see how many I scored in that period, that says something about creating chances for yourself, picking out the right positions. It sounds like a cliché, but you can’t do this without your teammates. It is nice to be the end point when scoring a goal, but that is the job of being a Rangers number 9. I am very proud, 50 is a nice number. My ambitions are clear. This season has been very bumpy, and I want to be better myself, better as a team. I want to win trophies, and if they need me, I will be there. That’s all that I can say.”