PHILIPPE Clement tonight insisted that Cyriel Dessers is improving as a player after the Nigerian striker netted a vital injury-time equaliser for Rangers in the Champions League qualifier against Dynamo Kyiv.

Clement turned a Vaclav Cerny cross into the opposition net in the fourth minute of added on time at the end of the first leg of the third qualifying round double header in the Arena Lublin in Poland to earn the visitors a 1-1 draw.

The Belgian was unimpressed with a question about the £4.5m signing’s form at the pre-match press conference on Monday night – the front man had failed to find the target in the 0-0 draw with Hearts at Tynecastle in the William Hill Premiership opener on Saturday - and he was pleased the forward had got his name on the scoresheet.

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His late effort puts Rangers, who will take on Dynamo in the second leg at Hampden next week, an excellent chance to go through to the play-off against either RB Salzburg of Austria or Twente of the Netherlands.

Clement believes the former Cremonese man, who was on target 22 times for the Glasgow club during the 2024/25 campaign, has developed since he arrived in Scotland and is certain even more is still to come.

(Image: Shutterstock) “We had six shots on target, they had three,” he said. “We kept on pushing until the end to get the result and I'm happy about that because we want this mentality, to work until the last second, to keep on going and believing.

"We have several new players now, young players, and they did it. Vaclav had an important assist. Cyriel also kept pushing to get the goal.

"He had a few chances that he finished well and the goalkeeper saved. He kept on believing and I'm happy for him that he scored.

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"If you compare him to seven months ago, he does much more for the team. Maybe people have a perception of him, but I know that no defenders like to play against him. He's only growing. That's what we want."

Asked about his message to his side when they were trailing 1-0 at half-time, Clement said: "To continue the good things that we were doing and make better the things we could do better. Our pressing, our organisation, our calmness on the ball.

"They took the lessons well. We're in this rebuild. It's very positive to get the result we got today, and with the fitness of players like Vaclav [Cerny] coming out of holiday, Dujon [Sterling] coming out of injury."