Rangers manager Walter Smith believes the depth of the squad he assembled over the summer will be tested to the full over the coming weeks and months.
As well as maintaining their status as credible challengers for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title, the Ibrox side will also be hoping to operate effectively on the European stage.
Their Champions League campaign begins in earnest on Wednesday when they play host to Stuttgart, with tough meetings against Barcelona and Lyon to follow in the group.
Throw in a Scotland national team which is defying all the odds in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and Smith knows he faces the prospect of having some extremely fatigued players at his disposal.
Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, David Weir and Alan Hutton all produced monumental shifts to earn a 1-0 victory for Scotland in France, with only Ferguson missing last week's win over Lithuania.
Smith said: "We have to look at our games and take in account the fact that some of our players have had two very tough matches more than others over the last 10 days or so.
"Over the next few weeks, we have league, Champions League and League Cup games to encounter so we are fighting on a few fronts just now.
"How we use the pool of players will determine more than anything else how successful we will be.
"There is a balance to be achieved there and it will be down to me to try to make sure we keep everybody at the right level.
"We'll have seven games in the next two-and-a-bit weeks. We needed a big squad and we need to use it.
"When you consider what we're trying to achieve, these guys face a hell of a number of games from now to January 5. They'll only have one mid-week off.
"When we get to December, every country in the world is looking at a holiday period but we have nine games.
"We have to use a balance involving non-international players."
Smith was the mastermind behind Scotland's resurgence before handing the reigns to Alex McLeish upon his return to Rangers in January.
Reflecting on what Scotland's victory in France now means for the national team, he said: "What we can't answer just yet is where we are right now," he said.
"If we had a better grasp of where are we wouldn't have these highs and lows. We're really looking for the middle line between those highs and lows.
"When we get that grasp we'll see that we're not the best in the world or the worst in the world - I think we'll be somewhere in between. But we are better now than we were a few years ago.
"We were looking at being on a level with Burkina Faso three years ago and now we're looking at France and Italy!"
Their Champions League campaign begins in earnest on Wednesday when they play host to Stuttgart, with tough meetings against Barcelona and Lyon to follow in the group.
Throw in a Scotland national team which is defying all the odds in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and Smith knows he faces the prospect of having some extremely fatigued players at his disposal.
Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch, David Weir and Alan Hutton all produced monumental shifts to earn a 1-0 victory for Scotland in France, with only Ferguson missing last week's win over Lithuania.
Smith said: "We have to look at our games and take in account the fact that some of our players have had two very tough matches more than others over the last 10 days or so.
"Over the next few weeks, we have league, Champions League and League Cup games to encounter so we are fighting on a few fronts just now.
"How we use the pool of players will determine more than anything else how successful we will be.
"There is a balance to be achieved there and it will be down to me to try to make sure we keep everybody at the right level.
"We'll have seven games in the next two-and-a-bit weeks. We needed a big squad and we need to use it.
"When you consider what we're trying to achieve, these guys face a hell of a number of games from now to January 5. They'll only have one mid-week off.
"When we get to December, every country in the world is looking at a holiday period but we have nine games.
"We have to use a balance involving non-international players."
Smith was the mastermind behind Scotland's resurgence before handing the reigns to Alex McLeish upon his return to Rangers in January.
Reflecting on what Scotland's victory in France now means for the national team, he said: "What we can't answer just yet is where we are right now," he said.
"If we had a better grasp of where are we wouldn't have these highs and lows. We're really looking for the middle line between those highs and lows.
"When we get that grasp we'll see that we're not the best in the world or the worst in the world - I think we'll be somewhere in between. But we are better now than we were a few years ago.
"We were looking at being on a level with Burkina Faso three years ago and now we're looking at France and Italy!"
Copyright (c) Press Association
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