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• Leon Balogun happy with Rangers’ resilience after semi-final victory over Hearts

  Leon Balogun believes Rangers showed resilience to overcome Hearts 2-0 in their Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday.

  Eyebrows were raised when Gers boss Philippe Clement left regular centre-back Connor Goldson on the bench with the 35-year-old Nigeria international Balogun making his first start since a 3-0 win over Livingston at Ibrox on February 3.

  After just two wins in eight in all competitions and on the back of a goalless draw against Dundee on Wednesday night, which followed their first ever defeat by Ross County in the cinch Premiership in Dingwall the previous Sunday, the pressure was on the Ibrox side.

  However, a Cyriel Dessers double set up an Old Firm final on May 25, the first since 2002.

  Balogun, in his second spell at the Ibrox club, said: “I think at this club, it felt like we had a few horrible weeks and it’s been two games only, obviously very important games, but within a week.

  “So I think it was very important to bounce back against a team that has put in good performances in every game we have played this season so far.

  “They never make it easy for us and certainly didn’t on Sunday.

  “But it felt good to be out there and show some resilience and get a good result, 2-0 and a clean sheet. Overall I can be can be happy.

  “For me, it was just to make sure to prepare well and to have a good start to the game and do what I’m supposed to do and serve the team.

  “I think overall as a team, as a unit, we did really well.”

  Balogun revealed Clement has tried to keep the Rangers squad focused on the positives during the recent ropey spell which leaves the Light Blues three points behind cinch Premiership leaders Celtic.

  The Light Blues begin their five post-split fixtures next weekend with a trip to St Mirren on Sunday.

  He said: “He’s been really good with us because he makes sure that we don’t get too emotional because it’s always very easy to watch those games back and then just feel sorry for yourself, talk yourself down.

  “He just reminded us of things that, even though we had bad performances, we still did good.

  “He makes sure that he reminds us of what we have to do and repeats that quite heavily as well.

  “Then you can see throughout the training sessions how the confidence slowly builds back up.

  “I think it’s not a surprise that we had a few difficult spells in the game on Sunday as well.

  “But then again, we showed the character that he was able to instil in the team.”

• Philippe Clement says Rangers’ return to winning ways was ‘what I demanded’

  Philippe Clement insists Rangers reacted as he expected after getting back to winning ways with a 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Hearts at Hampden Park.

  The Light Blues went into the game with just two wins in eight in all competitions and on the back of a goalless draw against Dundee on Wednesday night which followed their first ever defeat by Ross County in their cinch Premiership encounter in Dingwall last Sunday.

  The Gers boss, who raised eyebrows by dropping regular centre-back Connor Goldson in a reshuffle, saw striker Cyriel Dessers score a goal in each half to set up a date with Celtic on May 25 – the first Old Firm final since 2002.

  “To say it’s pleasing it not a good word,” said Clement, who revealed attacker Abdallah Sima will be assessed in the next couple of days after going off early with an injury.

  “It’s what I expected. It’s what I demanded, it’s what I wanted.

  “It was what I knew I would get from the team, also. I was totally not pleased about the game after Ross County, with how we lost our structure and lost our normal football.

  “Against Dundee, we were too much in a rush to score a goal and today we found the right balance again, what we have been doing for a lot of months.

  “But it’s been challenging in the last couple of months with all the injuries and players in and out.

  “We have been lacking rhythm. But today, if you see the bench, it is stronger again and that’s going to be important in the next couple of weeks when it’s one game a week.

  “Before these cup semi-finals we were the only team that played during the week. It makes a different and you need to look at that if you have three games in seven or eight days.

  “With players coming out of injury you cannot let them play all the minutes. It’s been a puzzle around that but now, in this last part of the season, it’s going to be a challenge in the squad with players coming back.

  “Quality then rises in the training and quality rises in the game also because we have a strong bench.”

  Hearts boss Steven Naismith blamed “immaturity” for failing to make more of their attacking play.

  “Frustrated, disappointed with the outcome,” he said. “That is the overriding emotion.

  “We got off to a terrible start, we can’t lose cheap, early goal like we did.

  “But the reaction from then until the second goal was good.

  “I thought we controlled the ball a lot, created opportunities and what you see is our immaturity in the final third.

  “We had four or five really good situations and we either pick the wrong option, or the wrong pass or we don’t get the finish.

  “And these are moments when we must hit the target or make the goalkeeper make a save or score a goal.

  “That is the biggest frustration for me because we get good opportunities that we didn’t take and the goals we conceded were cheap.”

• Cyriel Dessers double takes Rangers past Hearts to set up Old Firm cup final

  A Cyriel Dessers double took Rangers past Hearts in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-final to set up an Old Firm final.

  The enigmatic Gers striker slid in the opener after five minutes and then sealed the victory in the 78th minute for a 2-0 win, leaving the Tynecastle club still searching for their first win over the Ibrox side at Hampden Park.

  For the most part, it was a far from sparkling performance from Philippe Clement’s side who have gone off the boil in recent weeks.

  Nevertheless, Rangers will meet Celtic in the May 25 final at the national stadium by which time we will know which of the Old Firm clubs have won their cinch Premiership title race, which the Hoops are leading by three points with five fixtures remaining.

  Both sides had a lot to live up to after Saturday’s epic semi-final between Celtic and Aberdeen which the Hoops won 6-5 on penalties after a 3-3 draw but in the event it had less excitement and less quality.

  The Jambos had lost four times to Rangers this season, once in the Viaplay Cup semi-final at the national stadium, and had not beaten the Light Blues in their last 17 attempts.

  The statistics – but not Rangers’ recent form – pointed to another Gers victory.

  The Ibrox side went into the game with just two wins in eight in all competitions and the pressure was on Clement and his players.

  The Belgian boss boldly omitted Connor Goldson, who had played in 48 of Rangers’ 52 games this season, with Leon Balogun, Mohamed Diomande, Rabbi Matondo and Dessers returning.

  Hearts, sitting in third place in the league with one defeat in seven, showed three changes with Stephen Kingsley, Alan Forrest and Kenneth Vargas starting.

  Dessers missed the first chance in the third minute when he knocked a cross from Abdallah Sima over the bar as Tynecastle defender Frankie Kent challenged.

  However, when Gers midfielder Todd Cantwell set him up inside the Gorgie box he confidently dragged the ball to his left past Nathaniel Atkinson and steered it low past veteran Jambos keeper Craig Gordon for his 18th of the season.

  The goal settled the Ibrox men but they suffered a blow after just 15 minutes when winger Ross McCausland replaced the injured Sima.

  The change seemed to disrupt Rangers and keeper Jack Butland had to make terrific saves from Forrest and Kent in quick succession, although Kent appeared offside at his close-range effort.

  The Gorgie side began to exert more control towards the interval, pushing Rangers backwards and in the 51st minute Vargas robbed hesitating Gers defender John Souttar on the touchline and drove into the box but there were enough Light Blue jerseys back to defend.

  The Edinburgh side were in control.

  Hearts brought on Dexter Lembikisa, Barrie McKay and Yutaro Oda for Forrest, Jorge Grant and Atkinson just on the hour mark before Fabio Silva took over from the ineffective Matondo, before Dessers could not set himself for a shot after taking a Cantwell pass 10 yards from goal.

  In the 73rd minute Hearts skipper Lawrence Shankland hit the side-netting with a header as the Tynecastle men piled forward.

  However, in a swift Gers attack, Dessers settled the tie.

  A powerful run by Cantwell had the Gorgie defence backpedalling and when he laid the ball off to the Gers striker his first shot was blocked by Gordon but he made no mistake when collecting the rebound.

  With two minutes remaining Dessers set up Silva for a tap-in but the Portuguese attacker somehow managed to fall over the ball six yards out  before Butland made a fantastic save to ensure there were no late Rangers nerves, with time for Dessers to miss another opportunity on the break.