Michael Stewart insists it would be wrong to overlook the upturn in Cyriel Dessers' form at Rangers.

However, the former Hearts midfielder has pointed to the forward as an example of why Scottish clubs must be more willing to take a chance on domestic talent rather than imports from foreign leagues.

The Nigeria international, 29, scored his third goal in as many games against St Mirren yesterday, as he raced into double-figures for the season in the scoring charts. His goal in Paisley secured a vital 1-0 win for Philippe Clement's men.

The Ibrox club brought him in from Cremonese in the summer for a fee of around £4.3m, something they've been criticised for by their own supporters.

And Stewart is a strong believer that either Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland or Aberdeen's Bojan Miovski would've represented better value for money - with both players 'superior' to Dessers.

Stewart told BBC Sportsound: "Dessers is a very interesting one. You can't discount the goals he is scoring now and a lot of people are starting to suggest things are turning. For me, I think it is clear they are not going to try to move him on.

"When you look at the money outlayed on Cyriel Dessers, the transfer fee, wages, and you look at someone closer to home with Lawrence Shankland and Bojan Miovski for example, these two guys who are already in the league.

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"For me, they are far superior strikers to Cyriel Dessers. They wouldn't cost the wages and the transfers that have been spent on Dessers coming in. I think far too often clubs in this country are dismissive of and ignorant towards domestic players.

"Seldom do you see players who go from other clubs in Scotland to teams higher up the divisions and are unmitigated disasters? One, because they don't often cost big, big money, and two, more often than not they actually do well.

"It is incredible how often the bigger clubs in the country are ignorant towards the players already in the domestic league. Dessers is scoring goals now but his all-round game is still not at a level you would expect for the outlay on him."