CYRIEL Dessers has expressed confidence Rangers can beat Celtic at Parkhead after the top six split and increase their chances of lifting the Scottish title this season.
And the Nigerian striker admitted he is desperate to open his Old Firm account in the Glasgow rivals next encounter after having a goal disallowed at Ibrox on Sunday.
Philippe Clement’s side fought back to draw 3-3 with Brendan Rodgers’ team in a classic derby match in Govan and remain a point behind their city rivals in the cinch Premiership with a game in hand.
They can go two points clear at the top of the table with six fixtures remaining if they defeat sixth-placed Dundee at Dens Park – where they won 5-0 back in November – on Wednesday night.
READ MORE: Major Rangers vs Celtic calls assessed by Ref Watch
The defending champions, who have not lost a meaningful league game to Rangers since the August of 2021, will be favourites to win at Celtic Park because the 60,000-strong crowd will not have any away fans in it.
But Dessers, who played in the 2-1 defeat which Clement’s men suffered in the East End back in December, was encouraged by the Viaplay Cup winners’ resolve at the weekend and believes they are capable of crossing the River Clyde and taking all three points.
Asked if he thought Rangers were capable of beating Celtic at Parkhead, he said: “Yeah, definitely. We showed today we can score three goals against a good team and also in the previous two games, obviously we lost, but I don’t think it was fully deserved.
“We showed we can hurt them and if we’re a little more lucky, like with the first goal on Sunday, and we can take our moments then we can get a good win there.
“I think I can sit here and speak for the team, speak for Rangers, and say we have to have a positive feeling. If we can come back like that in a big game like that with the pressure full on then it says a lot about the team and the mentality of the team.”
The £4.5m summer signing thought he had scored a second-half equaliser for Rangers against Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday – but his close-range strike was ruled out by referee John Beaton after a VAR check showed that his team mate Tom Lawrence had fouled Tomoki Iwata in the build-up.
READ MORE: A classic encounter - but Old Firm 'title decider' decided nothing
Asked if he thought he had scored his first Old Firm goal, Dessers said: “Yeah, I thought so and I celebrated as well. So I had a little taste of the feeling.
“But I was unlucky because it got chalked off. I heard it was a foul which was unlucky for me and for the team in that moment. But we bounced back.”
“But I am getting closer all the time so hopefully the next game would be a very good moment to score my first Old Firm goal.”
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