Cyriel Dessers cut a dejected, solemn figure as he watched the final minutes of Rangers' thumping 5-1 defeat to PSV from the bench after being substituted.
The Nigerian came to Scotland to test his mettle against the finest teams Europe has to offer, so dropping from the Champions League into the Europa was a bitter pill to swallow.
And yet, Dessers, a 28-year-old who came from Serie A, is experienced enough to know there's only one thing a professional athlete can do in adversity - dust yourself down and go again.
Against Celtic on Sunday, he's well aware there is no bigger or better game for the striker and his teammates to wash away their pain and show the fans they've been hurting.
And Dessers promises, nothing will be left in the changing room as he vowed to "die on the pitch" in his quest for redemption.
He said: “I think we disappointed ourselves, the staff who worked really hard and the fans who travelled to Eindhoven and who were supporting us at home. The whole club. We want to make something good out of it and try to win on Sunday and make everybody happy.
"These are the games as a sportsman that you want to play in and you want to be a part of. It is an honour that I can play at Rangers and that I can play in this game. I am ready to die on the pitch. We need to do everything to win this game.
"You feel it from the first day you arrive in Glasgow. They speak a lot about this game of course. It’s a big game and we cannot let Thursday’s result get in our head. We will need a strong performance but I think we will be ready.”
Dessers may be new to the Old Firm maelstrom but he's already been in Scotland's biggest city long enough to know that thrashing against anyone will result in heavy criticism and a storm of frustration.
It may be hard to take much from a performance so bereft of quality but the big target man insists the team will learn from the experience.
He said of the defeat to PSV: “Obviously it was really, really disappointing. We came here with a good feeling after last week and after the weekend. And to then have this result, I think the score is not right when you look at the two games. But that’s football. It is very disappointing.
“We will have to lift ourselves quickly. Of course, we are sportsmen so this is a really tough loss. Because you work towards a goal and one of our goals was reaching the Champions League. Especially after last week when we showed that we have the level and we can do it. So this is tough. But we are professionals and we know what’s at stake on Sunday. I am sure we will be ready. We will take the positives from Thursday’s game. Maybe that won’t be easy but we will take the positives and try to improve the negative bits and we will be ready on Sunday I am 100 per cent sure.”
And while there will be lingering disappointment at losing out on playing in such a showcase environment, Dessers doesn't view the Europa League as some consolation prize.
The big striker was a losing finalist in the Conference League with Feyenoord the year Rangers also reached the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt and is well aware of the impact such run can have on a club.
He is sure that a return to good times aren't far away.
“I remember one and a half years ago I lost the Conference League final and three days later I scored my first international goal for the Nigerian national team. In football, it is sometimes like that, sadness and happiness can be really close. Let’s hope we are on the good side on Sunday.
“The season doesn’t end with going out of the Champions League. We go into the Europa League and Rangers have very good memories in that tournament. I’m sure we can do some good things there as well and show our qualities. Hopefully, we can have a nice adventure there.”
The addition of nine new players in the summer stands as evidence that Michael Beale has begun a profound rebuild of the team that he and Steven Gerrard began building in 2018. It would be naive to imagine that so many new faces will gel in such a short space of time, but Dessers isn't looking for that as a shield from criticism.
“We don’t look for that," he admits. "It’s a fact, but we don’t look at these excuses. I think all the new guys are settled in by now. We were welcomed really warmly into the club. This is early but these are the games that count and unfortunately, on Thursday it was a tough one.
“I think after a tough loss everyone will face criticism, that is also part of being at a massive club like Rangers. I know we can handle that. We will lift the spirits, try to be positive and go forward in the next game. We have to. We owe it to ourselves, to the staff, to the fans and to the city.”
