The painfully familiar feeling of European disappointment beset Scottish football once again on Thursday.

Domestic matters resume on Saturday with four games and two more on Sunday.

The nights are drawing in, so which teams can lift the sense of gloom?

A Saturday night sojourn to Dens Park ended in minor disappointment for Rangers last weekend, with their 2-1 lead short-lived.

The 2-2 draw maintained a unbeaten run for Derek McInnes' side but brought an end to a sequence of seven straight wins.

The real cost, though, was ground lost on Celtic, who opened up a four-point lead at the top by trouncing Hearts 7-1 on Sunday.

A long seven days later, Rangers are back at home to face promoted St Johnstone for the first time in 21 months with several players suffering from a sickness bug.

The last time the Perth side visited, they were three down by the break and got one back in the second period, continuing a run of Ibrox losses to seven in a row.

However, like Dundee, Saints have started the season well, sitting fifth.

Simo Valakari has managed three times against Rangers as St Johnstone boss and is still looking for his first point.

Achieving such a feat on Saturday would not only bolster that positive start to the season, it would like cause further ripples in the still very early Scottish Premiership title race.

Last weekend showed how the narrative about a manager or team can change with just one victory.

Stephen Robinson was criticised not only for Aberdeen's style of play but for just one victory in seven outings over 90 minutes - with the other being a penalty shootout defeat of Kilmarnock in the League Cup.

Saturday's 3-1 win against St Mirren not only lifted the Northern Irishman's side above the visitors into seventh but also turned the stats around to a more positive three wins and only one defeat in their past six outings, albeit Robinson has yet to fully convince the Pittodrie faithful.

Falkirk, meanwhile, were sitting second bottom with one win in eight outings until Saturday.

Lo and behold, a fine 2-1 win at Hibernian and John McGlynn's side can boast they have lost just once in five games as they move up to ninth.

It also goes to show how an in-form striker can make that vital difference in what are often finely balanced match-ups outside the current top three.

Falkirk's upturn in fortunes has coincided with Jacob Murrell, their 22-year-old summer arrival from DC United, scoring four times in his past five games - three in the latest two.

Kevin Nisbet, too late to earn a Scotland recall, has come to life for Aberdeen, scoring in four of their past five outings.

Bradley Fink, the 23-year-old on loan from Wycombe Wanderers, has scored three in four outings as Dundee have gone three games unbeaten, losing just once in five, to sit fourth in the table.

Lyall Cameron will be looking to add to his two goals in three games as Dundee United seek to extend their four-game unbeaten run at home to Aberdeen, where the Rangers midfielder was on loan last season.

The first goal is vital is often a football mantra - and it certainly seems to be the case in the Premiership this season.

Pacesetters Celtic have spent 64.8% of their game time leading in the Premiership this season.

Third-placed Hearts are second behind Celtic, having spent 45.4% of their season in the lead.

Second-placed Rangers missed a chance to overtake Celtic at the top on Saturday thanks to their draw in Dundee and that appears to be their Achilles heel.

Derek McInnes' side have struggled to finish off the opposition by making their dominance tell and have spent 50.8% of their game time drawing - the highest proportion of any side.

Thursday's defeats for Celtic and Hearts further illustrated Scotland's falling stock on the European stage.

With Celtic, their three defeats in a row in the Europa League is in stark contrast to the beginning of their Premiership defence, with only three points dropped so far.

Hammering last season's runners-up Hearts only re-emphasised how difficult it will be for anyone else to win the league this term.

Struggling Hibernian host Martin O'Neill's side on Sunday, with new Easter Road manager Marink Reedijk having lost his first two games in charge and seeking to halt a run of six Premiership games without a win, during which time there has been just one draw.

The Easter Road outfit, have spent the highest proportion of their match time losing this season (49.7%).

Celtic may be disappointed off the back of Thursday's 2-1 defeat by Celta Vigo, but Hibs have the much more daunting task.

The same is true of Motherwell. Five losses on the bounce have brought a degree of pressure on manager Alfred Johansson after an otherwise bright start to the season.

Visitors Hearts have themselves gone four away from home without a win and have won two in 10 on the road this season in all competitions.

However, the Tynecastle side are seven unbeaten against Well, although three of their four meetings last season were draws and their latest three visits have also ended level.

The big question for Wouter Vrancken's side is, how do they respond to Sunday's heavy defeat at Celtic Park and the 2-0 Conference League loss away to Trabzonspor?