A thoroughly pleasing and surprising weekend for Rangers in France. Dispatching, with some comfort, two Lique 1 sides is not to be sniffed at, certainly when one still has a Champions League tie to play.

As pleasing as the results were, fitness was the name of the game for the trip to Lyon. It looks like we could have an early advantage in that department.

In the last week, Steven Davis was full of praise for Jordan Milsom and the sports science team at Rangers for the fitness regime they have implemented since training resumed. When you get to the age Davis is at in his career, it is as much about conditioning as it is about ability. And if Davis thinks the training has been up to scratch, then that will do for me.

The proof, of course, will be shown at Pittodrie when we kick off against Aberdeen for our first league game. A lot of my fellow supporters have been worrying that this extended break could have a Dubai 2.0 type of effect.

I don’t envy any sport scientist working in football these last few months as they must be having sleepless nights, worrying about what kind of state their players are keeping themselves in. There is a very human element to the temptation of being handed an extra break, and you don’t know when it’s going to end, do you give in and hit the pies and the beer?

Quite frankly, I can’t really blame any player for giving in to that temptation because it is exactly what I would do. However, what we have seen with the other leagues in Europe, the teams that have excelled after the restart are the ones who have players who used the break to work on their fitness.

In a season that is going to be like no other that we've seen before in Scottish football, conditioning and fitness is going to be of the utmost importance. Nothing will be won in the first couple of months, but it CAN be lost or at the very least you can leave yourself with a mountain to climb.

If Rangers are to make the group stages of the Europa League, with last season’s campaign still to finish, we could be looking at a potential nine games in December. Silly points cannot be dropped between August and November.

A sluggish start, leading to points being lost, could see Rangers’ title challenge over before it even begins. Fortunately, I don’t see that being a problem.

I spoke a couple weeks ago about the importance of Ross Wilson to Rangers. If we go on to win the league this year, Jordan Milsom will have a strong claim to be at the front of the queue to receive a medal.