BAJ OF HONOUR

Nedim proud to fight for Gers and do his bit for under-fire boss Clement

- FRASER WILSON

NEDIM BAJRAMI slid on his knees to celebrate his Hampden winner.

His goal might just have lifted Philippe Clement and his team off theirs at their most desperate time of need.

The Albanian's strike to see off a Motherwell side that had looked set to strike down Gers at half-time was undoubtedly the biggest goal of Bajrami's short career in Scotland.

But for Clement the 81st minute winner was of far greater significance.

Under growing pressure having fallen nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen in the league and with his team struggling to show any sort of promise, the Belgian had walked down the tunnel at half-time surely knowing the deafening boos from his support meant he had 45 minutes to save his job.

Cyriel Dessers eased the pressure with a 49th-minute leveller.

But it was Bajrami's strike nine minutes from time - when he strode onto Vaclav Cerny's pinpoint pass to rattle an angled drive past Aston Oxborough which saw Clement breathe a massive sigh of relief.

And the match winner insisted he was delighted to do his bit for the under-fire boss who now is just 90 minutes away from defending the trophy he won just two months after walking in the door at Ibrox last year.

Bajrami said: "We are always behind the manager, we fight for him, we fight for every game, for us, for our fans and we try to do every game, step by step, our best.