Cyriel Dessers is at pains to say he's not the teacher's pet under Philippe Clement.

The Rangers striker smirks as he insists there is nothing special in his relationship with the Ibrox boss despite a seismic shift in his form in partnership with a transformation in the title race.

Born in Belgium, Dessers speaks with Clement in Dutch but even the personal touch of a relationship spanning back to their time in the Belgian Pro League doesn't explain a stark change in goalscoring prowess from the striker.

Three goals under Michael Beale compared with 13 since Clement's appointment. Dessers might be keen to avoid a teacher's pet tag at Ibrox, but he's surely been one of Clement's most successful students in his time in Glasgow to date.

“I have seen the statistics," said Dessers of his upturn in goals scored under Clement. I think I’ve scored one goal every 100 minutes with the new gaffer. That says a lot.

“But even then it could have been more. I have had other opportunities and I have hit the woodwork six times.

“I think there’s more to come and obviously the gaffer played a role in this. He gave me confidence, as well as to the team.

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“We are playing better so as a striker you can use that. It’s all been quite natural, we didn’t do crazy things.

“We worked hard, we worked hard on the connections with the other players like Tav and now Ridvan on the other side.

“These are things you need to work on.”

Discussing his relationship with Clement, Dessers adds: “I played a couple of times against him when he was the manager at Club Brugge. We had a title battle when I was at Genk and we ended up second.

“It was clear in Belgium that he was an amazing manager, he won three titles back-to-back.

“He knows what’s needed at this stage of the season and hopefully he can repeat this again.

"Obviously it’s a little bit easier as when we have a personal talk we can speak in Dutch. 

"That makes it a little bit easier for both of us. "But there are no special things around it – it’s not as if I’m his favourite because I was born in Belgium. That’s not the case! 

"We have a really good connection but he has that with all the players. That’s only a positive for everybody."

Dessers' goalscoring revival acts as a microcosm for Rangers' season in many ways. Most obviously, going from criticism around Ibrox for both the player personally and the team as a whole to joyous fan ovations as the club reached the summit of the Scottish Premiership table. It's not something Dessers has ever experienced before in his career.

"No - I don’t think so," said the striker of whether he could compare the turnaround to anything else throughout periods in the Netherlands, Belgium or Italy. 

"I’ve had a lot of managerial changes but this has been huge obviously. It’s been really positive the past month. 

"We all know Rangers is a big club and it’s all about these last few months of the season. ‘So we know what’s coming. We try to keep our heads cool but there’s a really positive vibe in the changing room."

The same could be said of his own experience of reversing his struggles in Glasgow to being serenaded by supporters.

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"The emotions are so intense at this club," he said of the emotions surrounding football in Scotland.

"When it’s not going well, it’s one of the hardest clubs in the world to play for. But when it’s going well it’s probably one of the most beautiful clubs in the world. 

"That’s what we are feeling right now.  Last Saturday at Ibrox the atmosphere was amazing. 

"For the league, I think it was the best atmosphere in Europe. It can be amazing like this. You feel something is growing. 

"Let’s hope that we can keep growing together – the fans, the people inside the building here and when we are on the pitch. Then I think something beautiful is possible this season."

Dessers' optimism is shared by Clement who reckons the striker is playing some of the best football of his career.

“I think Cyriel is in a really good place now," said the Ibrox boss. “It’s maybe dangerous to say this but I haven’t seen him in another club as good as he is at this moment.

“And he’s still not at his maximum. He’s really growing well. These last couple of months.

“He’s playing better and better, doing the right things and having a good connection with the rest of the team. That’s really important."