The Rangers squad listened to Barry Robson complaining about Aberdeen’s fixtures and gave each other a wry smile. Fresh from leading his team to their Viaplay Cup semi-final victory over Hibs, Robson took the chance to berate the SPFL for scheduling the final three days after his side’s Europa Conference League home game against Eintracht Frankfurt. “We’ve also had four away games in the Premiership after Europe,” he added, detailing the headache Aberdeen’s first incursion into European group stage football since 2007 has given him.

Robson was never likely to find any sympathy within the Rangers camp who travel to Seville to play Betis ahead of their own appearance in that cup final. Fixture congestion is something only too familiar to both halves of Glasgow, a symptom of recurring success. “I saw Barry Robson talking about it on Viaplay, about his games, and he was having a little bit of a moan about it,” said Rangers midfielder John Lundstram. “Welcome to our world! The games come thick and fast and we’re used to it. I saw the lads joking with Barry on telly saying that’s what success brings and playing well brings. We’re in the Europa League, the Viaplay Cup, the league and the Scottish Cup’s still to come. They all just come thick and fast and you wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s what success brings.”

Rangers look better equipped to handle that congestion than they did at the start of the season. Philippe Clement’s appointment has imbued them with fresh energy and they have won all four domestic matches since the Belgian’s arrival, scoring 14 goals. Playing with such vibrancy has also helped mend bridges with a support base that had become disenfranchised.

Rangers’ John Lundstram is chased down by Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie - and the duo will meet again in December.

“The style of play we’re playing now gets the fans involved,” added Lundstram. “It’s more forward-thinking, it’s high-tempo, it’s aggressive. We’re obviously going to need the fans and they’ll be behind us 100 per cent. It’s all about us giving them something to be behind and we’ve done that lately.

“We’re playing a bit wider with wingers, which helps the pressing side of things. I can’t speak highly enough of the manager. He’s come in and really stamped his authority on the squad. It’s what we’ve needed. He keeps going on about this story we’re building and it’s about putting all these little building blocks in place. You can see it coming together, probably faster than he expected. But we have all bought into what he’s trying to implement and it’s working.”

Thursday night brings another significant hurdle for Rangers to overcome when Sparta Prague are at Ibrox for matchday four of the Europa League. The defeat away to Aris Limassol and then the draw in Prague have left Rangers with a bit of work to do if they’re to reach the knockout stages. “I thought over there, it wasn’t pretty at all,” added Lundstram of the first Sparta match. “In the second half, we were excellent. And I thought after the game it was a great point to get away from home. For Sparta, they’ll see that ground as their Ibrox. It’s not an easy place to go to – and it’s not going to be easy for them to come to Ibrox. We’re really looking forward to it and hopefully it’s another magnificent European game.”

'Welcome to our world': Barry Robson's Aberdeen gripes not lost on Rangers ahead of December showdown