Rangers kick off their Ibrox domestic campaign this Saturday at home to Steven Pressley’s Dundee side as new head coach Russell Martin looks to build on Tuesday evening’s 3-0 thrashing of Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
Let’s not dress it up, last time we faced Dundee, Rangers were a mess for long spells at Dens Park, as we had been for large spells of last season.
But when it mattered, in the dying seconds of stoppage time, Cyriel Dessers stepped up and gave us the moment we desperately needed.
His last-gasp strike sealed a 4–3 win over Dundee was one of the most chaotic matches of recent seasons. A victory that felt more like survival than triumph.
Dundee went 3–1 up just after the hour and the away end was seething. The body language was all wrong. Heads were going down. Yet somehow, we clawed our way back to draw level.
And then came Dessers. In the 93rd minute, after missing chances in the double digits the big Nigerian popped up with a late winner.
He got the goal that completed the comeback and, if we’re being brutally honest, bailed us out.
It was his 100th appearance for Rangers, and while he’s always been a frustrating figure at times, this was his night.
For all his earlier misses, he kept going. Credit where it’s due, something Dessers can never be criticised for is his mental strength.
Then interim manager, Barry Ferguson didn’t mince his words after the match. “Old habits creeping back in,” he said, and he was right. It was unsustainable. These issues would hurt us as last season drew to a close with a whimper.
As supporters, we demand better, and rightly so.
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After last Saturday's draw at Fir Park as we kicked off the new campaign against Motherwell, we seen a lot of the issues that hurt us last year.
But the new boss made big changes to the team for the Plzen game, and they paid off with a magnificent 90-minute performance.
We will now see if we can carry this on into the domestic campaign, and kick off our league challenge with a win over a poor Dundee side, who lost to lower league Airdrieonians and Alloa Athletic.
This is a big chance to lay down a marker, get a big win and show what we can do this year.
The first step back to being credible title challengers starts this Saturday at Ibrox against the Dees.