'It is extremely disrespectful' - Super Eagles star condemns treatment of Dessers by Rangers fans

Leon Balogun has criticised a section of Rangers fans for their disrespectful treatment of teammate Cyriel Dessers.

Dessers has faced a difficult relationship with some Ibrox supporters since joining the club, with boos heard when he was substituted in Scottish Premiership matches against St Johnstone and Aberdeen.

Speaking on the Counter Attack Podcast, Balogun expressed his disapproval of the treatment of teammate Cyriel Dessers.

He strongly condemned the behaviour and stressed further that booing players might not make them perform well.

Balogun acknowledged that fans might be reacting to perceived poor performances, but he defended Dessers' effort.

“It is, but it shouldn’t be. Not to that extent. We’ve had it here in the past when a player comes on and gets booed or a player comes off and gets clapped off but in a sarcastic type of way," he said.

He continued, “I don’t condone that at all because it’s the same player that you would actually want to score or defend better. You can criticise them heavily, but watch the language. It is extremely disrespectful.

“Now I know that some fans would say his performance was disrespectful but if you see the effort (they put in) then you can’t put that on disrespect because he has tried his best.

“All you can do, is all you can do, right? You can criticise his quality, fair enough, but it’s always about how you do things in life and certain things are off limits for me, so that’s poor. I’ve witnessed it – not against me personally – but it’s always tough," Balogun said.

The 30-year-old Dessers scored a hat-trick for Rangers over the weekend in the Scottish Cup fifth round against Fraserburgh.