IF Tuesday nights are student nights in Glasgow then Thursday nights must be Europa League night. Taking to the field as Celtic played out the closing stages of their play-off round first leg draw against Suduva, Rangers moved another step closer to their own first appearance in the group stage of any continental competition since 2010-11 with this 1-0 win against Ufa of Russia. Here Herald Sport rakes over the talking points from another generally positive night in Govan.

1. Ufa are no great shakes but there is work still to be done

Considering sides like Zenit St Petersburg and Sevilla lurking in the Europa League play-off round draw, the Ibrox side are entitled to feel pretty happy about landing this mob. The sixth best side in Russia last year, Ufa are an outfit who only got into Europe by dint of the fact cup winners FC Tosno didn’t apply for their continental licence, squeezing past Progres Niederkorn to get this far. After a last-minute sweat over visas, the side from Bashkortostan to the east of Russia played a brand of football which could be described as agricultural. Or alternatively rather similar to the approach which might be employed by a visiting team in the lower reaches of the Ladbrokes Premiership.

With the giant Ivan Paurevic, a 6ft 4in converted defensive midfielder who played for Huddersfield a few seasons back, leading the line, they came for a draw but that plan was out the window two minutes before half-time. When Connor Goldson forced the ball over the line as he followed in an Alfredo Morelos header from a Ryan Kent cross, the Ibrox side have still to experience being behind in any match but how they could have done with a second goal on the night.

2. Rangers still lack guile and creativity

As reductive as the Russian game plan was – and it was far more defensive than the one employed by both Osijek and Maribor at this venue - it is one which Rangers will see a lot of in home matches this season and they will have to find a way to be better at counteracting it. While the Ibrox side came out of the traps quickly in front of raucous crowd and forced an early Alexander Belenov save from a Daniel Candeias strike, in truth with the Russians sitting behind the ball, the Ibrox side looked badly short of a bona fide No 10 to produce the creative touch to open up the game. There was no shortage of effort from the likes of Scott Arfield, Ryan Jack and Ovie Ejaria but very little of note was coming through the middle. With most of Ryan Kent’s meanderings off the left only succeeding in bringing him into traffic, they were also crying out for a left sided player who could hit the byline. On this evidence Rangers should have enough to get through, but given the extensive travel required for the second leg, that extra bit of creativity might have made the trip to Russia a bit easier, particularly with the match coming just days before the first Old Firm match of the season.

3. Fitting Kyle Lafferty into the team will be a conundrum

The Northern Irishman, plucked from Hearts for a fee in the region of £500,000, was afforded a hero’s welcome when he arrived from the bench around the hour mark. As positive as a signing as I feel he can be, his arrival presents his manager with a dilemma. Clearly keen to get both he and Morelos on the pitch at the same time, rather than just spell each other as lone strikers, Gerrard is also understandably reluctant to tear up a formation which has generally been functioning well to go straight to a 4-4-2. Last night’s answer was to introduce the Northern Irishman for Kent, meaning he also had defensive duties down the Ufa left. While this position is hardly alien to him, Lafferty’s skillset is night and day from that which Kent has to offer and it could take a while for Rangers to readjust. As debuts go, this was fairly middling, but taking just a minute to earn a booking on his second coming at the club wasn’t exactly the best way to go about impressing your manager.

4. Lee Wallace has his work cut out to get back in the team

Back stripped on match night following a persistent groin problem last September – and fined four week wages for his role in a dressing room row after April’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic – the former Ibrox captain finds his way blocked to get a berth in Steven Gerrard’s team. Jon Flanagan is a solid defensive option on the left when required, and the ineligible Borna Barisic will be able to return for the league meeting with Motherwell on Sunday. James Tavernier – once again one of the club’s best attacking outlets last night - currently has the right back role sewn up, with playing Flanagan on that side a decent option when a more conservative approach is required.

5. Allan McGregor is pushing his case as Scotland’s No 1

As limited as the visitors were, Rangers still required a fine save from their goalkeeper to prevent a costly away goal. Perhaps the in-form goalkeeper in Scotland right now, McGregor’s presence was invaluable to his team when the Russians finally showed signs of life. Dmitri Zhivoglyadov, whose only contribution to that point was avoiding a booking when both diving and deliberately handballing when in a promising position, found some isolation at the far post. His shot was well struck but McGregor’s instincts kept him at bay. Aside from that, and a volley which flew over by Paurevic, the Rangers backline kept the Russians at arms' length with comfort.