Barry Ferguson reckons Cyriel Dessers has faced "unfair criticism" at Rangers as he leapt to the defence of the Ibrox striker.

The former Rangers captain reckons Dessers has taken over-the-top flak at times this term over missed chances and his link up play.

However, Dessers was the key man at Hampden for Rangers as his double sent the club into the Scottish Cup final to face Celtic next month.

Ferguson was thrilled to see Dessers make the telling impact as he hailed a "very good" performance at Hampden - even if the pundit conceded there are weak areas in the striker's game.

On the Go Radio Football Show, Ferguson said: "I know he's taken a fair bit of criticism, but one thing you can't label against the big man is his effort.

"It is always there and he gives 100%. He does lack some quality in terms of his link-up play and he does miss a lot of chances. But I was delighted for him getting a double.

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"I think he gets unfair criticism at times. He is not the perfect striker but he does a lot of good things for the team.

"I thought he was very good overall. That double takes him to 19 goals which is a pretty decent return.

"He is a guy who doesn't even start all the time so people need to be mindful of that."

After his double at the national stadium Dessers admitted he could have played better as he branded Rangers the best team in the league.

"Today I could have played better," he said. "When you score two goals in a semi-final, you have to be happy with that, but we want more.”

"We have six more games and everything to play for. It's a new league starting next weekend and we know what we have to do to win the title. Hopefully we can execute that on the pitch.

"The pressure is rising after the week we had. To do it in the big moments today against a good team, I think we be happy with the performance and result. We can look with confidence to the next games. I want more goals, I want more wins, and hopefully, more trophies as well.

"If you look at the last months, we showed what we're capable of. It's just the thing to find this vibe back. If we can find that rhythm back, I think we're the best team in the league."