Rangers hero Ryan Naderi on his knack for scoring, his preferred territory and trophy mission

Elated Ryan Naderi insists Rangers will head into December’s Premier Sports Cup final with one clear objective after his decisive late intervention against Aberdeen moved the Ibrox club within touching distance of silverware.

The Czechia international striker’s 83rd-minute strike broke the Dons stubborn resistance to settle a Hampden semi-final that was low on quality.

Derek McInnes’ side had to adopt a patient approach against opponents who made life difficult for them, with Naderi once again demonstrating his growing importance to the team by finding himself in the right place at the right time to turn home James Penrice’s low cross.

Ryan Naderi celebrates

It took Naderi’s tally for the season to eight goals and the centre-forward spoke of his delight at popping up when it mattered most to book Rangers place in the final.

“It feels amazing,” he reacted. “I'm happy, of course, to be the one who scores the goal, but happy for the team as well. I think we deserved it. We believed we could score right up until the very end and we did and I think it's a deserved win.”

Naderi acknowledged that Rangers had not enjoyed everything their own way, with Stephen Robinson’s Aberdeen producing a gritty defensive display that threatened to take the tie into extra time. However, the match-winner believes that the persistence shown by his team mates was ultimately rewarded.

“I mean it's a semi-final. No matter who you play against, they're going to throw everything at it. They're going try to defend with every man. Also a big compliment to them because they did well. They threw themselves into everything and made it difficult for us to score. But as I said, we kept going, we kept pushing for that goal and as I said, it's a deserved win.”

Naderi: I’ve worked hard for this moment

The winning goal was another example of Naderi's impressive positional awareness, with the striker increasingly developing a knack for arriving in key areas to capitalise on opportunities. Naderi was quick to point out an element of fortune but believes his hard work has played an equally important part in his recent success.

“I'm happy. I'm OK to call it luck, but I also think I worked hard for it,” he admitted. “I'm just happy how it is right now and happy I can help out. I always have the feeling that I'm onside. Nowadays you never know because of VAR. But yeah, I was confident. I had a feeling like I had a good timing.”

There was no suggestion that Naderi is about to abandon his preferred territory inside the penalty box. Indeed, he joked that a number of his attempts from distance provided sufficient evidence of where his strengths lie.

“I've tried to shoot twice today from outside of the box and it didn't go well,” he grinned. “So I went back inside the box. Maybe I should just stick to the easy ones!”

Rangers are now within 90 minutes of adding silverware to the Ibrox trophy cabinet for the first time in three years. They will face either Hearts or Hibs on December 13. Naderi made his ambitions perfectly clear, adding: “We will definitely come here to win that, not to lose it. We’ve come this far so we want be there standing with the trophy in our hands.”

Get our daily football newsletter by clicking here