Ideally, of course, we would have preferred to have another fortnight to wait, but those hopes died thanks to that controversial late winner for Motherwell on Sunday, May 11th.

It meant the players had to report back for duty sooner than they would have liked, and it  will be interesting to see how they cope with this incredibly early start to the campaign. 

I have no doubt they will have looked after themselves during the close season, and equally there’s no doubt that Derek and Tony will have worked them hard since they reported back for duty. They’ve had the three warm-up games against St Patrick’s, Brechin City and Arbroath, and having gone along to Gayfield to see for myself how they were looking, I have to say I was impressed by the levels of intensity, sharpness and fitness shown by the players. Those outings will have helped greatly, but there really is no way of being sure just how ready the guys are for their return to serious competitive action.

No-one needs reminding that the last time we ventured into Europe it ended in humiliation, Sigma Olomouc delivering Mark McGhee the worst possible start to his troubled reign by handing out a record 8-1 aggregate thrashing.

The first leg of that tie came almost four weeks later than tonight’s match, and we were nowhere near ready. The players were miles off the pace and the 5-1 reversal in no way flattered the Czechs … however we know from his meticulous preparation that Derek McInnes won’t have made the same mistake going into this one. While Daugava will be a considerable step up from last Saturday’s opposition, I saw enough in that friendly to convince me the work has been put in … now it’s all down to whether we have the quality to see off the Latvians.

A run in the Europa League would be a great way to kick off the new season and the more games the team can get, the better prepared they will be for the resumption of hostilities in the Premiership.

The campaign gets underway with a slightly different look to the squad. Among the departures were two fans’ favourites, Josh Magennis and Scott Vernon, while two new faces – the giant Ashton Taylor and goalkeeper Scott Brown – have so far been brought in, along with the return of Shay Logan. The boss tried hard to persuade Kris Boyd to join up – and I believe he would have been a superb signing – but it was always going to be a long shot persuading the striker to head north, and it didn’t come as a major surprise in the end that he decided against the move.
 
I would expect one or two others to be tied-up in the near future, but even though the first team squad still maybe lacks a little depth, Derek is right not to make any panic buys.

His second full season in charge is going to be every bit as demanding as his first but hopefully as enjoyable and successful – let’s hope it gets off to a positive start tonight.

This article originally appeared in RedMatchDay Issue 01