Cyriel Dessers targeting Rangers growth in only area that matters as striker builds up to ultimate payoff

Cyriel Dessers insist it’s trophies and not tallies of goals he’s targeting for Rangers this season.

The Ibrox hitman has now hit seven strikes in his last eight games after firing Philippe Clement’s side into the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals. His deadly double saw Gers ease to a 3-0 win over Dundee on Saturday, setting up a huge November showdown against either Aberdeen, Celtic or Falkirk as Gers look to go a step closer to retaining the trophy they won last year.

But while Dessers is on course to better the 22 strikes he managed in his debut campaign with the club last season, he insists he’s more interested in seeing his medal collection grow. Asked if he was hoping to top last year’s goal tally, the Nigeria international said: "No, I don't really have a target. My target is trophies. But, yeah, it would be nice to score more than last season.

"A start like this helps, but obviously you need to stay fit, so you keep playing games. And then hopefully the goals will follow if I do my job for the team.

“It's decent form. I'm happy with those stats. A few assists as well, so I think I'm in a good moment right now.

"I've got good momentum, but I just want to keep going. Obviously, you want more than this. But I'm happy. It's good to start a season like this. I want to keep building on this."

Dessers was on target as Rangers celebrated a happy homecoming victory back at Ibrox. Having spent the first six weeks of the season locked out of their own stadium following a construction cock-up on the Copland Road end, Clement’s team were quick to settle in as they swept past Tony Docherty’s Dark Blues.

"It felt really good to be back,” said Dessers. “Just the small things like arriving at the parking lot and going through the