It was not quite a case of ‘the team that drinks together, wins together’ in Malmo. In its own way, Cyriel Dessers believes the victory was indicative of the spirit within the squad and the talent within the team. A week on, Rangers will have the chance to reaffirm their belief in each other and prove that progress is being made.

The victory in Sweden saw Philippe Clement’s side set a new bar this season. As the Belgian said afterwards, it is a level that has to rise once again if Rangers are to achieve at home and abroad in the coming months. The visit of Lyon on Thursday night presents that opportunity as Rangers – back under the Ibrox floodlights on a continental occasion – look to take another small step towards Europa League qualification and a stride forward in their campaign.

During the more difficult times earlier in the season, Clement expressed his confidence that Rangers would be a different and improved proposition come October. Having negotiated the rest of September with four wins and four clean sheets after the Old Firm defeat, now is the time for Clement’s words to be put into action. The fortunes over the next six fixtures will shape the mood of the support and go some way to determining ambitions this term.

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Ultimately, the ends justify the means at Ibrox and it is more about substance than style for a side that need to build momentum at home and abroad. Ahead of the return to European action this week, Dessers has reason to believe Rangers are on the right track.

“I think we have some good performances as well in the league,” Dessers said. “Around the Rangers, there's always a lot of criticism. And we have to accept that, we have to take it, we have to try to take some things from that, learn from it.

“But we're focused on our own performance. And I think we're on a good way. We're growing, you can see that. We got a few new players in and we're mixing it all together. But obviously, last Thursday was a beautiful night for us as a team. If you see in the second half against a good team, you have to really stick together. 

“It's not like a team night out, but it was a team building activity! Stick together, work together, fight together. You see how everybody fought for the team. And that makes me really happy, I'm really proud. That gives me confidence for the future as well. The manager always said it was going to take time.”

That is, of course, easier said than done at Ibrox. Asking a demanding support for patience has to be done wisely, and it will only be accepted if there are tangible signs of progress. Having set out his timeframe, Clement needs his team to start moving through the gears during a testing run of fixtures.

That has not always been the case this season and the Champions League exit to Dynamo Kyiv was sandwiched by the dropped points at Tynecastle and Parkhead. The challenge is to prove that Malmo can be the foundation rather than the glass ceiling. As good as Rangers were, they must be a whole lot better.

"Yeah, but also before the Celtic game, I think we had some really good performances,” Dessers said. “And then obviously, you want that one game to go different. But also, you cannot let one result distract you. 

“Like I said, we are growing. The best is yet to come for us. And I think everybody can see that.  We just have to stay focused on our own.

“It's good for me and I think for a few more experienced players [to know how to block out the criticism]. I don't think it's easy, but you have to do it. You have no choice. 

“If you want to make a good season, you need to block out it and stay focused. The league is not lost or won in August. In the next months, we will need to keep winning games to be as close as possible.”

The defeat to Celtic at the start of September remains the low point of the season so far. Losing to Kyiv came at a financial and reputational cost, but an Old Firm post-mortem is always more difficult to endure. Rangers held their own behind closed doors and the response overall has been of the kind that Clement would have expected from his side.

Dessers may only be in his second season in Glasgow but the striker is already well versed in life at Rangers and knows the pressures that are put on players to perform. Questions over his quality will always be raised. His mentality cannot be doubted.

“Yeah, obviously,” Dessers said when asked if the players had spoken collectively after the Old Firm defeat. “You analyse the game, you see what we did wrong, you see what we did well. You try to learn from it, you train on it again. 

“The league is a little bit different because a lot of teams play in a different way against us, but like in these European games, I think these are more similar to the Old Firm games. You can see that we made a step already since the end of August and we have to keep growing. Next week again will be a good test for us.

“I think that [against Malmo] you saw that we were less worried when things don't go our way. Malmo was in some parts of the game a little bit dominant, but then we stayed focused on our job and we knew that our moments would come. I think that's a part of what we have to learn from. You cannot have a game where you're 90 minutes always having the ball, always creating. Sometimes you have to be more patient and take your moments.”

That was the case against the Allsvenskan leaders. Nedim Bajrami scored inside a minute after Dessers capitalised on a Malmo mistake and a plethora of missed chances – most notably from those two forwards and winger Vaclav Cerny – did not cost Rangers. A Ross McCausland effort that made sure of the points was no more than the visitors deserved.

(Image: PA)

Premiership fixtures with St Johnstone, Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Aberdeen this month all fall into the must win category for Clement given the position that his side find themselves in the title race. If Lyon and Steaua Bucharest can be beaten at Ibrox, Rangers will be well on their way after a perfect start in the Europa League.

“Yes, these are very, very important points,” Dessers said. “Malmo is not easy. It's a good team. You can see it as well in the league, they're leading. So this is a very good start, but still a lot of work to do, especially if you look at our opponents. 

“Lyon are obviously such a big force in France. I’ve seen some of their highlights. They had some exciting games in the last weeks, so I think it's going to be an open game again.

“It's a big team. If you just look at the players there, they have some big names, like Alexandre Lacazette, Wilfred Zaha and Nemanja Matic. These are big names, but I think as a team, we showed last season against Betis and Benfica that we can have very good performances against very good teams.”

Dessers should have added to his tally for the term on matchday one. His breakaway with Bajrami in the first half was spurned, as was a chance after the interval. The forward can, though, be pleased with his return of seven goals so far this season.

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Malmo could have had few complaints had Rangers won even more comfortably than they did on the night. It was the most effective, if not the most efficient, that Clement’s side have looked as an attacking force all term.

“Yeah, I had my part to play in it,” Dessers said after his strike came back off the post and fell into the path of Bajrami to give Rangers a dream start. “I'm happy for Nedim to score his first goal. Obviously, these are the balls as a striker I like to keep an eye on. 

“Sometimes the defender plays the ball back to the goalkeeper, they don't see the striker and you can get in between. But of course, Nedim was following very good. I'm happy for him to score. It was one of those games with so many chances to kill Malmo off before Ross finally got the second goal. 

“Obviously, we could have killed it off earlier. But we cannot underestimate Malmo, they're a good team. But I always felt like we had control. 

“We didn't really get into big trouble. So I felt that there would be a moment where we would kill it off. And Ross did amazing, he came in very good, sharp. And it was remarkable, his goal.”