Rangers striker charged up by Celtic celebrations amid 'gap not that big' claim

Cyriel Dessers eyeing future success after Scottish Cup final defeat

The pain for Cyriel Dessers on Saturday evening was both physical and emotional. The Rangers striker left Hampden sporting a moonboot following a collision with Cameron Carter-Vickers that saw Dessers removed from the Scottish Cup final action at half-time.

That ankle injury will heal in due course but the discomfort from another loss to Celtic, following the recent concession of the league title to the same opponents, will stay with Dessers for a while longer. This one was even tougher to take given how well Rangers had played for long spells only to be sucker-punched by Celtic at the death.

A summer of change is expected at Ibrox and Dessers admits his will be spent stewing over how this season ended to ensure he never has to endure such torment again.

Rangers' Cyriel Dessers looks dejected after collecting his runners-up medal after the Scottish Cup final defeat to Celtic. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

“It’s been a heavy season, that’s for sure, in all kinds of ways,” said the Nigerian international. “It’s easy to all go down now in energy and everyone needs to take a rest. But to see them [Celtic] celebrate today and 10 days ago gives me a lot of energy to go again this summer.

“It maybe seems weird to say now but I cannot wait for pre-season to start and to do better than this season. I’m looking forward to that.

“We have to turn things over in our favour. We’re on a good path but we’re not there yet. If you look at the balance at the end of the season we showed good things but we’re not there yet. We will go further along that path and I’m sure it will lead us to more trophies next season.”

Given the teams’ respective conclusions to their league campaigns, Celtic were installed as odds-on favourites to win comfortably in the first Old Firm Scottish Cup final for 22 years. That Rangers pushed them all the way only to still lose was both demoralising and encouraging both at once.

“Everybody is devastated,” confirmed Dessers. “We were close and we played a good game. It wasn’t an easy game and if you lose it that way in the end then obviously it hurts.

“We neutralised them well. We had our moments as well. As the game went on, in the second half especially, I felt it was growing. I was thinking that this was going to the day when we turned everything around.

“Even if you look at the five games between the teams this season the gap is not that big. Everybody has seen that. But there is still something about these games. We didn’t win any of them. But on the other hand the performance and the gameplan that we had worked. It was good and that’s something to build on especially in these head-to-head games."

The signing of Brazilian left-back Jefte on Friday was the first act in what could be a busy period for Rangers as they try to break Celtic’s domestic dominance.

“There will be a lot of change but I think every summer at a top club is significant,” added Dessers. “We will need a reset, also mentally, and then get the energy back together. We showed really good things this season and some things to build on that we will take to the next season. The basics are there. We just have to build on that.”