'Why Rangers can't afford to sell Dessers'

On Sunday, I posed the question in commentary at Tannadice: "Can Rangers afford to sell Cyriel Dessers?" after a remarkable period for the much-maligned striker.

His goal to clinch the 3-1 victory, like the one he scored at Old Trafford a few days earlier, was magnificent, making it six in four games after his Scottish Cup hat-trick against Fraserburgh and his strike off the bench against Aberdeen.

So the answer to my question is quite straightforward in my mind. Of course they can't. Yes, he'll continue to miss chances that defy belief, but even though the emergence of Hamza Igamane had relegated Dessers to the bench in recent times, the pair dovetailed well against Dundee United and there is no reason not to continue with that pairing over the weeks and months to come.

That win over United was massive for Rangers and it should do them a power of good psychologically. I think it was Craig Levein alongside me in commentary who described them as a "Jekyll and Hyde team" and it was a pretty apt description.

For the first 35 minutes of that game they were second best, didn't look up for the physical battle and seemed to be heading for another away game without a victory or maybe even a point.

Mohamed Diomande's equaliser came out of the blue but was the catalyst for a much-improved performance and by the end they could have run away with the game.

It typifies Rangers' season. Very rarely have they turned in a good 90-minute display, but when they are playing with confidence, they look unstoppable.

If they play as they did in the closing hour at Tannadice against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday, I fully expect them to beat the Belgians.

And with that, looking at the permutations, it's far from impossible that they can squeeze into the top eight and qualify automatically for the last 16, which would be a phenomenal achievement for a team and manager who have come in for enormous criticism this season.