The steps on the road to recovery have been steady and have taken Rangers forward in three competitions. Now, many more must follow if Philippe Clement’s side are to achieve their ambitions at home and abroad this season.

The Old Firm defeat to Celtic earlier this month was – both in terms of the performance and the result – the low point of the campaign to date for Rangers. On Thursday evening, a new bar was set as Malmo were dispatched with relative ease and in eye-catching fashion. That high standard must become the benchmark for a squad and a side that are still very much a work in progress at present.

Goals from Nedim Bajrami and Ross McCausland got Rangers off and running in the Europa League. On the back of wins against Dundee United and Dundee, it was a result that offered plenty of encouragement to Clement and a support that have asked many questions about where Rangers are and where they are heading this season.

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For McCausland, it was an occasion to savour individually and collectively. The corner has, Rangers hope, been turned this term. Time will tell if Rangers are on the road to success.

"It's clear to see, from watching this, it's probably something we came off the back of and knew we had to be better,” McCausland said when asked about Rangers' fortunes since losing 3-0 at Parkhead. “It was a tough situation to be in, and we obviously the fans obviously expect much more from us, and we're glad that we're able to deliver that.

"I think patience is probably the best word to describe it, not getting too low and not getting too high, and obviously, with a new group of players, and with a lot of new players in the building, and it's going to take us a while to gel. I think you start to see that now with our performances, and people are getting a lot more comfortable around each other and stuff like that. So it's looking good."

Injury, suspension and red tape denied Clement the services of a handful of important players for the trip to Sweden but those that were selected did what was asked of them in largely dominant fashion. Rangers were well worth their win.

Clement pinpointed the contribution of McCausland post-match and labelled him as the ‘symbol’ of the squad as his endeavours to improve his game paid off with a direct run from right to left and a low finish beyond keeper Johan Dahlin.

"Buzzing to be able to come on and contribute,” McCausland said. "I think obviously, when you're watching from the bench, and it gets to 55/60, and even in the first half, the chances we had. And you can see that the games clearly open in ways.

"And so obviously, whenever you get the chance to go on, you obviously want to get, get to be to come on and have chances, and take shots on goal at any, any chance time you can. So to be able to come on and contribute. It's amazing. 

"Actually, even when I scored it, and actually it took me a minute to process where [the fans] were, so had to turn around. But obviously, when you score in such a such a big game, it's almost like a blackout.

"And obviously I'm buzzing to be able to contribute, as I said. But overall, with our performance, the boys who have played the 90 minutes, they've done so well, and we deserved it."

A third successive win was secured with the aid of a third successive clean sheet. It should have been earned with a more comfortable margin. The profligacy in front of goal was the only negative for Clement to chew over on the return to Glasgow.

McCausland showed the importance of having players who can contribute from the bench. At a time when Clement cannot pick his strongest eleven, he needs everyone to stand up and be counted.

“Obviously, with the players that are injured, the players that aren't here, I think you can clearly see that they would also add quality to our group,” McCausland said. "And as you've seen players coming in, maybe their first few appearances, and they're starting to make a difference in the team.

“And to go out there and play [on Thursday night], the way we played without them is it's obviously good, but obviously, with them filtering back in, they're going to add quality to the group.

“You know, players are starting to come out of their shell, and the players are gelling together. I think that's always the case for most teams, when they get new players in the door, it takes time to settle. But I think you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

It will be a full Ibrox that McCausland savours when he walks out of the tunnel on Sunday afternoon. The visit of Hibernian sees Rangers return to Premiership duty and the occasion will coincide with the reopening of the entire Copland Stand.

(Image: Rob Casey - SNS Group)

That moment has been a long time coming for everyone at the club. A run of three home fixtures on the spin – with Lyon and St Johnstone to come next week – offers Rangers a chance to build some momentum and continue to move in the right direction.

"Yeah, definitely, it'll be amazing to see everybody there, full and raring to go,” McCausland said. "Obviously, seen the other day the difference that made from being at Hampden was massive. Being back at Ibrox is going to be probably one of our biggest things for the rest of the season.

"We've obviously been at Hampden for the Cup games and stuff like that and the atmosphere is normally good there. But it's, it's hard for the league games and stuff, and especially with the travel stuff for the fans, I understand that but to be back at Ibrox is going to be going to be massive for us."