It’s always a sign that a striker is in pretty good form when he bounces back from one of the worst misses you will see all season with a 44-minute brace later on in that very same game. Rangers boss Philippe Clement can only hope that the forwards at his disposal can show similar resolve in Sunday’s Old Firm derby, Celtic arriving at Ibrox with the title on the line.
Cyriel Dessers missed a glorious chance the last time the two sides met in December, dawdling when through one-on-one as both he and Rangers missed the chance – literally and figuratively – to land a statement blow against their Premiership rivals.
Dessers is likely to lead the line against Brendan Rodgers’ side. But despite his greatly improved form under Clement – there was a time under Mick Beale when the Nigerian looked destined to end up as the Filip Sebo of the modern era – Dessers’ form cannot hold a candle to that of Ellis Simms, the man who’s second-half brace against Wolves in that aforementioned FA Cup quarter-final clash set up a meeting with Manchester United at Wembley.
Rangers looked at Ellis Simms before Coventry move
Read more: Rangers most expensive signings of all-time including £12m arrival and four Dutchmen
In another world, Simms might have ended up at Rangers rather than in the Midlands. The Glasgow giants showed an interest back in 2022, one year before Everton sold the former Hearts loanee to Coventry for an £8 million fee which Simms is finally starting to justify.
“I tell you what, I was impressed,” Rangers legend Ally McCoist told talkSPORT of the one-time Gers target after his FA Cup heroics. “He had a miss in the first half. I was really keen to observe how he performed after that, and he was a different class.
“He got himself in a position to score, which he clearly did, and he took up really good positions.
“I saw Simms when he was on loan up at Hearts (two years ago), as well. I thought that there was something about him.”
13 goals in his last 10 games
McCoist may have always retained that belief in Simms, but there are certainly those who did not share such confidence in the Oldham-born 23-year-old.
A tally of just four goals in his first 35 games at the start of 2023/24, after all, was alway going to raise doubts. Doubts which have now been dispelled with a remarkable run of 13 in his last ten. A run which includes that Wolves win, and hat-tricks against West Brom and Maidstone. It’s a tally no player in any of England’s top-four divisions – not Erling Haaland, not Mo Salah, not Darwin Nunez and not even Blackburn’s free-scoring Sammie Szmodics – can match.
Dessers has nine himself since the turn of the year, however. And a thumping header during last week’s 3-1 triumph over Hibernian means Clement’s go-to number nine can head into arguably the biggest Old Firm derby in a decade with a renewed sense of self-confidence of his own.
