Cyriel Dessers in Rangers pressure ‘embrace or KILL’ stance as he makes bullish title mentality claim

Cyriel Dessrers reckons pressure must be embraced or it will kill. And the Rangers striker is adamant his side has the mentality and belief to savour the strain of the title fight.

Dessers hit his 11th goal of the season to help Philippe Clement’s men cut the gap to Celtic at the top of the table to five points. With 15-goal Abdallah Sima out for three months, the Nigerian can be key to filling the void as the manager also hunts the market. But Dessers said: “More pressure on me? I don’t think so. I don’t feel it that way.

“The pressure is always there at Rangers. It was there from the beginning. I spoke about it with other people, at a certain point you have to embrace the pressure, otherwise it kills you. I think that’s what happened for me in the last months. You have to appreciate it. I played at other clubs with the fans where it doesn’t matter that much if you draw a game or lose a game. But you don’t want that. actually. You want the pressure, you want the people who are committed to this club, who care about the club. So actually I like it and I think we should embrace it. All of us.”

Rangers have the League Cup in the bag and are still in Europe and with a Scottish Cup bid intact, but the title is the big one. Clement has racked up 11 wins in 13 top-flight matches since taking charge to stay on Celtic's heels and, when asked if confidence was building in the title tilt, Dessers said: “The confidence is there, that’s for sure. We believe in our abilities and what we can do. Not only technically or tactically, but also mentally.

“We are a strong team. Even if there is a setback or a difficult game, we can bounce back. We can come back from any point and I think that is a good thing. It’s good that there is a