There’s a real problem with Rangers this season, and now deep into November we can safely say it is real, rather the usual ‘give it time’ rhetoric so many fans come out with.

That problem is the increasingly dreadful first halves, and more pertinently, losing the first goal in that period.

Too many matches Rangers have been involved in this season, almost half, have seen first half conceded goals or first goals conceded and in the past 4 matches it’s been the only way.

In short, Rangers, in way too high a regularity, are giving themselves a mountain to climb, and the opposition a head start.

The slow starts from Steven Gerrard’s side have started to become an Achilles heel, something opposition know to go for because the Famous are vulnerable inside the first 50 minutes of a match.

And that vulnerability sees sides going for it, pushing harder than they might against other sides because they know their opponent are frail.

What is the reason for this?

Malmo has a big part to play.

The Swedes suckerpunched us twice at Ibrox, after we’d taken the lead, and it took the wind out of our sails. We had nothing left when we went to their patch, and they only extended their lead further.

This means our opponents now know we have a soft centre, that we are easy targets to get at in the first 50 minutes of matches, and it isn’t till later that we finally properly get going.

And a lot of this is down to the loss of Ryan Jack.

Steven Davis and Glen Kamara simply cannot do what Jacko does, and his defensive covering means suckerpunches get nullified much earlier.

They don’t get to develop. They get cut off at the point of origin. At least, they did.

His return cannot arrive soon enough. Even a 25% match fit Ryan Jack is a massive injection this side needs, and the quicker he’s covering the backline, the better.

Because the longer he isn’t, the longer this soft centre will continue.