Clement's brutal Rangers message to stars revealed after Celtic dominance left him with half-time anger

Cyriel Dessers was left speechless as Rangers fought back to salvage a nail-biting 3-3 draw against Celtic in an Old Firm classic - before heaping praise on the impact made by Philippe Clement’s substitutes.

The Nigerian international helped his team mates stage an rousing fightback from 2-0 down at Ibrox and came within a whisker of scoring a dramatic winner in the dying seconds of the game.

The six-goal thriller during a VAR-affected contest was played a ferocious rate, with plenty of chances at either end in a contrasting game of two halves. And Dessers declared post-match he had yet to catch his breath following an enthralling 90 minutes.

“At this moment, I don’t have a lot of words of it,” he responded when asked to sum up the contest on Sky Sports. “I think it was one of the craziest games I’ve had in my life. I think, for us to get a draw in the end after the start is going to be massive for the rest of the season.

“The gaffer actually said (at half-time) he didn’t recognise us. He said that he didn’t see the things we’ve been doing over the past five months and I can only agree. You can see that we’re mentally so strong, if you can see what we put on this pitch the second half against a good team then I’m so proud of this team. I think a lot is possible this season.

Asked about the importance of retaining belief that they could come back into the match at 2-0 down, Dessers added: “We know we’ve done it in the past couple of months, so we know it’s possible to get back from a losing situation. But to do it in a massive game like this with the pressure full on, that says a lot about this team.

“I’m really proud and happy for the guys who came in and were so important in that manner because it’s not easy to come into a game at this place, but they did unbelievable. I’ve seen them work over the previous weeks and months and this is what they deserve.”

Dessers almost clinched victory for Rangers with virtually the last kick of the ball. Reflecting on that missed opportunity, he sighed: “I hit it really well and for a second I thought it could go in but it went passed by just a tiny bit. Unlucky but we’re going to play them one more time this season, so hopefully if I get another chance like that then it’ll go in.”