Ahead of his matchup with Fabio Silva, Cyriel Dessers cites his Rangers stat split as evidence of his turnaround.

The Nigerian striker thinks that with the Ibrox squad vying for the Premiership, competition for spots can only be advantageous.

Cyriel Dessers is willing to compete alongside Fabio Silva to be the Rangers’ primary front man.

The Ibrox striker believes that the competition for the attacking positions will propel the team to a “beautiful” second half of the season. Nine goals this season, including a spectacular one against Real Betis that propelled Philippe Clement’s Light Blues into the Europa League round of 16, have been scored by the Nigerian.

However, the former Feyenoord attacker still needs to win over some Ibrox sceptics, as Wolves’ £33 million player Silva is joining on loan. Dessers, who scored in Tuesday’s friendly draw with Copenhagen, believes that his play is improving. He stated, “There will always be competition at a top club like Rangers.” It can only be advantageous. I really want to win trophies here, but I’m not here for myself; I’m here for the team. Who scores the goal or wins the game doesn’t matter to me.

The most essential thing is that I just want to win. Fabio is a talented player, so I hope he can be a big assistance to us, but I also hope I can accomplish my goals. I believe there is a significant difference between my stats before and after the manager arrived.

There is still room for improvement, so I’m working hard every day to improve my form and strength in the hopes that we can help the team win a lot of games. We discussed it, but we don’t have to talk about it all the time at this point. I am aware of my abilities and that he appreciates my traits, so I just need to put in a lot of effort and defend the team.

Early in his tenure, Gers manager Philippe Clement won the League Cup, but the Old Firm loss just before the winter break marked his first Premiership loss. Nevertheless, with the Scottish Cup and Europa also up for grabs, the Ibrox team is still very much in the running for the championship. Dessers believes the Light Blues are setting themselves up for an incredible second half of the campaign.

“That’s it; the past two months have been excellent for us,” he stated. With the exception of one game, we have won nearly all of them, so we must continue to improve. I believe that our team still has a lot of room for improvement, and if we can do that, a lot of wonderful things will be achievable.

Dessers is certain that the Gers are in fantastic form following their sunny holiday in Spain, where Clement had the opportunity to work with his team nonstop. The striker maintained that the Light Blues were fortunate to have the break after a taxing schedule that saw them battle on three fronts in December.

In preparation for Saturday night’s Scottish Cup match against Dumbarton, Dessers stated: “Obviously, you get closer and that’s a good thing to get this new energy again to go for the second half of the season.” Although we knew it would be hard work, that is exactly why we were there. It was undoubtedly hard work.