It’s been a problem for Rangers almost since winning the Scottish Premiership title in 2020/2021.
Every manager, including Philippe Clement, has had to battle with a shortage of fit strikers and, in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s case, play in a Europa League final without one.
The current squad now has three centre forwards who are available for selection and Clement has fired a warning at Cyriel Dessers with his position as Rangers’ No.9 under threat.
Cyriel Dessers drops down Rangers pecking order
Danilo has looked sharp in his cameo appearances so far with a couple of assists to his name and has also shown a greater ability to link play and stretch opposition defences.
And then there is Hamza Igamane, who announced himself as a potential star with an outrageous performance against Nice.
Not only did he get two goals and assist, it was his work rate, hold up play, and manner in which he caused the Nice defence problems that impressed.
A performance that saw Clement have to field a question about the man who has been in possession of the jersey in his post-match interview with TNT Sports:
“Yeah, for sure,” Clement replied when he was asked if Dessers will need to up his game to get back into the starting XI.
“So, there will be competition between them. It’s about seeing who is in the best shape at one moment.
“That’s never a decision for weeks or months, that’s showing it game by game.”
On Igamane specifically, he said: “He came in with an injury and he missed all of the preparation.
“He doesn’t have experience at this level. We’re working hard with him, all of the staff, to make him physically stronger. He’s made a really big progression in that way, but also tactically, doing the right things for the team.
“That’s why I gave him the chance today because I saw all of these things getting better and better in training.
“It’s my job to give these chances at this stage to see what players can bring.
“He showed what I expected, but you never know with young players.
“You need characters like that to play for Rangers.”
Dessers fluffs his line with chance to prove he’s still the main man
To almost compound Dessers’ misery, when he replaced Igamane with the score at 4-0, he still contrived to miss the sort of chance that has frustrated Rangers fans since signing for the club.
Six-yards out and with the goal at his mercy, the 29-year old not only failed to force the goalkeeper into a save but completely missed the target.
To make matters worse, the ball went in the direction that he was aiming.
The 10 goals and three assists that the Nigeria international has to his name doesn’t paint the full picture for the type of season that he is having and the performances of Danilo and Igamane suggest that he is now third choice behind the pair.
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