Hamza Igamane thrills Rangers team-mates as strike rival tells him he welcomes the chase

It hasn’t taken Hamza Igamane long to catch the imagination of the Rangers support - or indeed for the youngster to do much at all really.

A bit of tight Tannadice chest control and a surging run was enough to offer a flash of excitement to a support that have spent the summer sulking under dark clouds. But with that 25-minute cameo against Dundee United last week suddenly there was fresh hope that in the 21-year-old former AS FAR Rabat hitman, maybe Philippe Clement had unearthed the kind of gem that will be needed if Gers are to somehow compete with Brendan Rodgers’ sparkling Celtic side.

If they sound a bit overeager, it’s because they are. The repeated failings of this Ibrox side have left the Ibrox support desperate for a saviour, be it a Saudi sheikh or a marauding Moroccan striker. But the truth is, if Igamane is going to step up to become the club’s new No.9, he’s going to have to replace the goals Cyriel Dessers is currently providing this Light Blues line-up.

It’s now seven in the last eight with a couple of assists for good measure. No one needs reminding of the flaws in Dessers’ game which mean he’ll never quite be fully accepted by the Ibrox legions.

But the slick double he netted in Rangers 3-0 win over Dundee as they marched into the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals showed again that when in the mood, he can be a potent force up front for Clement. So as far as the competition offered by Igamane or injured rival Danilo is concerned, Dessers’ view is clear: bring it on.

"I'm happy with that, actually,” insisted the Nigerian international. "I think at a big club like Rangers there will always be competition. That's good, because we play 65 games a season. Probably I will not play 65 games, all 90 minutes!

"So