Cyriel Dessers felt like Rangers 'scapegoat' as he opens up on 'really tough' months at Ibrox

Cyriel Dessers has revealed he has felt like a scapegoat at Rangers on occasions as he opened up on his rollercoaster first season in Glasgow.

It all kicked off last summer when Michael Beale brought him to the club and not long into the season the former Ibrox boss was given the boot after a poor start domestically and a Champions League exit at the qualifying stage. The microscope was well and truly on the recruitment drive with Jack Butland the only one receiving pass marks at that stage.

Dessers details how he had hardly got his digs together or worked out how to work his TV and people had already written him off at Ibrox. He admits this was really hard, especially coming from his own fans, with strikers hitting their best stride when loved. Of course, his fortunes have enjoyed something of an upturn under Philippe Clement and he has 22 goals to his name. Missed chances are often brought to the headlines by supporters and pundits alike, but those early months were 'really tough' for the Nigeria international as he prepares for a huge Scottish Cup Final with Celtic this weekend.

He told the BBC: "Yeah, I feel in some moments I was the scapegoat. These are hard things because I was just moving to a country, trying to adapt to a new club, a new league.

"I was still putting up my Ikea furniture or working out the settings on my television and people were already trying to write me out of the club, saying 'you’re the worst player who ever played for Rangers' and all these things."

He continued: "You're not even fully settled down and people already want to get rid of you or are actively hating on you, especially when it's from your own fans, it's really hard. If it's the press, it doesn't bother me too much. But if it's