Cyriel Dessers in a moon boot felt like Rangers’ season in microcosm. Another day, another crippling injury, another painful defeat to Celtic.

Deep within the bowels of Hampden, the post-match media mixed zone is where the story of a game is picked apart and dissected.

On one side of the indoor training area, loud dance music was drowned out by the whooping and hollering from the Celtic dressing room. On the other, Dessers stood, suited and booted, sombre and reflective, sticking his head above the parapet and trying not to get shot.

They push, they probe, they end games the stronger team and the outcome never changes. Whatever they try, however they play, this group of players find themselves on the losing side against the one team they really need to beat.

Presented with one last chance, the ecstasy of Abdallah Sima’s disallowed goal after 61 minutes proved a false dawn. When it comes to killing Rangers’ passion, VAR is becoming a close second to Brendan Rodgers.

And yet, despite it all, Dessers would go again tomorrow if he could. The moon boot protecting his injured ankle suggested he’d be another addition to the injury list which hampered Philippe Clement all season. But, for all the criticism of his talents as a striker, the 29-year-old has never been one to hide when there is a setback to pore over.

After watching Celtic raucously celebrate winning the league and the Scottish Cup, Dessers is already itching for another crack at them.

‘It’s been a heavy season, that’s for sure, in all kinds of ways,’ he reflected. ‘It’s easy to all go down now in energy and everyone needs to take a rest.

‘But to see them celebrate today and ten days ago gives me a lot of energy to go again this summer.

‘It maybe seems weird to say now but I can’t wait for pre-season to start again and to do better than this season. I’m looking forward to that.

‘We have to turn things over in our favour. If you look at the balance at the end of the season, we’re on a good path but we’re not there yet. We will go further along that path and I’m sure it will lead us to more trophies next season.’

For supporters, the ‘jam tomorrow’ lines are tiring. Despite his 22 goals, Dessers fails to convince as a Rangers striker and he’s not the only one. When Clement snapped up Fabio Silva on loan from Wolves, he did Celtic a favour. Had they signed him, they might never have snapped up Adam Idah instead.

Poor recruitment decisions have blighted Rangers as much as Celtic. Effective in snuffing out their rivals’ midfield trio, they failed to offer enough in attack.

Dessers had a rare attempt at goal midway through the first half but collided with Carter-Vickers going for the second ball and never recovered.

‘I got injured in the first half after around 20 or 25 minutes,’ he explained. ‘I tried to go on because obviously that was the game of the year, the big final at the end of the season and one big push. But I had to come off.’

A potent attacking force before injury struck — with this Rangers team it’s a running theme — Sima replaced Dessers at half-time. And, when James Tavernier swung in a corner after 61 minutes, the on-loan Brighton man forced the ball home at the back post to trigger an explosion of joy in the Rangers end of Hampden.

Any celebration comes with a moment of hesitation these days. Just as they thought they’d finally taken the lead over Celtic for once, VAR John Beaton spotted a push on the Celtic keeper by Nicolas Raskin. Joe Hart was always flailing and it was a silly thing to do. In the era of video technology, Big Brother doesn’t miss much.

Rangers’ gripes over the officials were further fuelled by the denial of a direct free-kick in a promising position when Liam Scales pushed Dujon Sterling on the edge of the area.

While they had legitimate grounds for grievance, an emphasis on neutralising and neutering Celtic came at a price. When they had to switch containment to attack, Clement’s side lacked the guile, invention or clinical finishing to outsmart a Parkhead team playing well below their best.

The January failure to sign another striker — or a better one than Silva — returned to haunt them. This summer Clement needs to get creative on a budget. To start beating Celtic, Rangers need to be quicker, sharper and more clinical in the final third. They can’t finish seasons crossing their fingers and relying on Dessers.

‘I think every summer at a top club is significant,’ added the striker (below). ‘We will need a reset, also mentally, and then get the energy back together.

‘We showed really good things this season and some things to build on that we will take to the next season.

‘The basics are there. We just have to build on that and finally make the difference in these head-to-head games. And then I feel that things will go our way as well.

‘Everybody is devastated now. We were close and we played a good game. It wasn’t an easy game and, if you lose it that way in the end, it obviously hurts.

‘We neutralised them well. We had our moments as well. So, as the game went on, in the second half especially, I felt it was growing. I was thinking this was going to be the day when we turned everything around.

‘Even if you look at the five games between the teams this season, the gap is not that big.’