Cyriel Dessers gets 'unfair' Rangers stick as Barry Ferguson asks fans to remember one thing

Barry Ferguson says he was delighted to see Cyriel Dessers steal the show in Rangers 2-0 victory over Hearts at Hampden and reckons the number nine is unfairly criticised by supporters.

The 29-year-old netted a goal in either half to book his team's place in the Scottish Cup final against Celtic, taking his Rangers tally to 19 goals in 48 matches. The Nigeria international has been the subject of ridicule from some sections of the club's fanbase in recent weeks and after his double at the national stadium admitted that he has been affected by the criticism.

But former Light Blues captain Ferguson has leapft to the defence of the much-malinger striker and believes he offers much more to the side than just goals. Speaking on Go Radio, he said: "I know he's taken a fair bit of criticism, but one thing you can't label against the big man is his effort.

"It is always there and he gives 100%. He does lack some quality in terms of his link-up play and he does miss a lot of chances. But I was delighted for him getting a double.

"I think he gets unfair criticism at times. He is not the perfect striker but he does a lot of good things for the team. I thought he was very good overall. That double takes him to 19 goals which is a pretty decent return. He is a guy who doesn't even start all the time so people need to be mindful of that.

Much has been made of the ex-Cremonese and Feyenoord forward's lack of proficiency in front of goal but former fellow pundit and ex-Celtic midfielder Peter Grant agreed with Ferguson's view. "He scores goals and misses chances", he stated. "Tell me a striker that doesn't do that?

"The strikers that don't do that are the bad ones because they don't get in the positions to miss them. That is very important. It was very difficult for him at the start of the season but I don't think it was down to the individual player, as I felt at the time that too many players were just getting shoved into positions and not playing many minutes.

"So to score that amount of goals with the minutes he has had is excellent. We know he misses chances, but all the top strikers do that because it is part of their job. If they don't get in there to have those chances the manager will crucify them. So fair play to him."