Premiership POTY: Southampton legend backs Dessers to beat Celtic and Hearts stars to award

Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier believes Rangers forward Cyriel Dessers could emerge as a dark horse in the race for the Scottish Premiership’s Player of the Year award.

Le Tissier highlighted Dessers’ ability to score goals in bursts and suggested that consistency could see the Nigerian international rival some of the league’s biggest stars for individual honours.

“The other one for me was Cyriel Dessers who I think is a decent goal-scorer,” Le Tissier said to Football Insider.

"I think if he gets on a roll he could quite easily be challenging the top goal-scorer up in Scotland and if you are in that battle, then you’re normally in the running for Player of the Season as well.”

Dessers, 30, has been with Rangers since joining from Italian side Cremonese in 2023 and has scored 52 goals in 115 appearances for the Ibrox club.

Despite his record, the striker has been criticized for inconsistency, with goals often coming in streaks.

Le Tissier, however, insists that if Dessers can sustain his form over a full campaign, he could surprise many by claiming the league’s top individual award.

"You look at those guys that are scoring all the goals are the ones that get the headlines and when the trophies start being handed out they’re normally at the top of the list," he explained.

Le Tissier acknowledged that the award is often dominated by players from Celtic or high-scoring rivals such as Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland, but he argued that Dessers has the pedigree to challenge them if Rangers find form under Russell Martin.

Dessers has scored once in his opening six matches this season, but with Le Tissier backing him to make an impact, the Nigerian forward could yet emerge as one of the season’s most talked-about figures.

Wale Adejumo

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