Rangers star Leon Balogun has heaped praise on form attacker Abdallah Sima.

The Nigerian international centre-back has been earning some plaudits of his own for a stand-out performance in the 1-0 Scottish Premiership victory against Hearts.

The 35-year-old defender has been recalled to the Rangers side under Philippe Clement and is currently looking like the Belgian manager’s preferred option alongside Connor Goldson.

But it was Abdallah Sima who would steal the headlines at Tynecastle, the Brighton loanee latching onto a James Tavernier through ball to score the only goal of the game.

Speaking after the game, Leon Balogun and Abdallah Sima did a joint interview with Sky Sports and the veteran centre-back was glowing in his praise.

Leon Balogun heaps praise on Abdallah Sima

Leon Balogun has been talking up the recent form of Abdallah Sima, who now has 12 goals for the season for the Rangers.

After a run of eight games without a goal following the birth of his daughter, the striker is back amongst the goals and the Rangers team have certainly taken a shine to him.

Heaping praise on the attacker, Leon Balogun claims Abdallah Sima “deserves” all the plaudits coming his way.

“I am happy that Abdallah (Sima) blessed us with another one,” Leon Balogun said.

“This week, this season, it’s fair to say that in the beginning he needed to find his feet.

“But since then, I’m not going to say he’s been strolling because he also received the blessing of a young child so some sleepless nights.

“He’s doing tremendously well for us and yeah, all the praise belongs to him and he deserves it. He’s working really hard.”

Rangers striker delighted to net again

Abdallah Sima was also speaking to Sky Sports in the aftermath of the Rangers victory over Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.

In a potentially vital victory, Rangers maintained the pressure on Celtic at the top of the table with the gap effectively five points if the Ibrox side can win their game in hand.

Abdallah Sima has emerged as the Ibrox side’s sharpest goal threat and after being praised by Leon Balogun, the Rangers star claims he’s just happy to be helping the team

“For me it’s something real important for me to score goals and to help the team,” said Sima.

“I think the most important for us is to win this game so I’m really happy to score again and to help the team.

“It’s important games I play now so I know every player. I know Tav every time I run he’s giving to me so that’s something we were working on in training.

“So that was something we were working on in training do that’s something natural for us.”

Abdallah Sima continues to impress at Rangers and manager Philippe Clement also spoke about the forward after the victory over Hearts.

This comes after the Belgian coach hinted the Gers are looking to make the £7m Premier League attacker’s loan deal permanent.