Scottish appearances in the knockout stages in Europe have been so rare that it might be expected that any opportunity to get there would demand full attention but there was evidence of Edinburgh getting ahead of themselves on Saturday evening.

The danger of disregarding Krasny Yar may already have been exposed in this Challenge Cup competition, but after rattling in 10 tries on Russian soil in their previous meeting it is understandable that they believe that next weekend’s home meeting with them is a formality.

With 23 tries in all, more than twice as many as the other perceived contenders in their pool and far and away the most registered by any team in either European tournament this season, they are all but certain to secure the bonus try win next weekend that will take them to the magic mark of 20, no team has so far failed to reach the Challenge Cup quarters on achieving it and they will have done so with two matches to spare.

If they are in danger of taking things for granted then after a second destruction of an English Premiership side - albeit, admittedly, that league’s worst – why not?

Nor were Edinburgh at their best on a bitterly cold night at Murrayfield after the match had been switched from frozen Myreside, having to revert to generating their own atmosphere in the echoing surrounds of the national stadium but gradually warming to their task as they ran in eight tries in reaching a half century against hapless opposition.

Such is the gulf in importance between the two competitions, however, it was still hard to place a value on that 50-20 victory as compared with Glasgow Warriors’ 29-22 defeat at the hands of Montpellier the previous evening.

Edinburgh’s players clearly know, then, that as much as they would like to revisit the Challenge Cup final and go one better than when they were squeezed out by Gloucester three seasons ago, the forthcoming derby matches over the festive period will be a far greater indicator of the progress they have made under new head coach Richard Cockerill than any number of tries they rattle in next weekend.

“We are under no illusions at the moment. It is still pretty early on in the season and we are building towards Glasgow and we want to beat them,” said Phil Burleigh, Saturday’s righteous recipient of the man-of-the-match award who, at the ripe old age of 31, recently won his first Scotland cap in a more memorable eight try romp in the national stadium against Australia.

“It is going to be a good couple of games in the next couple of weeks,” he continued. “That will be the true test for us to see where we are at for the season because they are unbeaten in the competition so that is our focus. We have a pretty big couple of games against them ahead.”

A product of the Kiwi rugby environment he knows better than most what is required to compete with the best and he believes that Richard Cockerill, their head coach, is putting the right things in place to give them that opportunity.

“Cockers has done a great job, toughening us up,” he said.

“He is building a very good team culture. Maybe we took a bit for granted. It is really good to see this team starting to grow. I always knew it was there. It was just getting it out of us. We are building on wins and game by game and it is nice to see.”

In saying so he was not wholly presumptuous about next week’s outcome, but it is clear that there is an expectation of getting the job done.

“It is exciting to hopefully make the quarter-final,” said Burleigh.

“Any quarter-final, regardless what it is, is pretty special. It is a really good opportunity for the boys to seal it next week and we hope we do.”

Naturally Cockerill must guard against complacency in the coming days, but there was evidence that he, too, reckons he can put any combination from within his squad onto the pitch next weekend, whether Myreside or Murrayfield and expect a minimum of the required victory with a bonus point.

“I’ll look after some of the international guys,” he said.

“They’ve had a heavy work load. It was important that played tonight, so I’ll look after some of those next week, but we don’t want to end up on our arses next week by getting too ahead of ourselves.”

In saying so he could not resist a touch of mind games in pointing out the very difficult challenge that Dave Rennie, his opposite number at the other end of the M8, has to deal with over the next few days.

Glasgow’s trip to Montpellier could hardly be any tougher since they know that for all the hubris generated by their 10 match winning streak in the Pro14, they have yet again proven incapable of getting the better of the battle-hardened elite in Europe and will only make things harder for themselves in future if they are now seen to capitulate.

Rennie has hinted at ringing the changes, too, but as well as they continue to perform in the more cooperative domestic environment that encourages risk, partly because opponents are not good enough to properly punish mistakes, a fourth defeat for them while a second string Edinburgh are shooting the lights out, could well affect the derby dynamics and Cockerill knows it.

“It’s a tough gig for Glasgow,” he observed.

“They’ve obviously had a lot of guys playing Test matches, two big games against Montpellier, and they’ll come here against a very motivated Edinburgh team on the 23rd.

“We have the luxury of looking after our squad and I’ll do that next week, but it will be a strong side, which I expect to put in a good performance. We’re actually creating some competition for places, which is good and nobody is safe in their spot, which is great.”

As to that question of assessing how his team is doing under his charge, Cockerill knows how wrong it would be to get over-excited by their European results and that the real challenge awaits once Krasny Yar have been dealt with.

“Eight tries is good, but it’s just a start, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” he insisted.

“We’ll hopefully have a good win next week and then we can concentrate on playing Glasgow, which will be a real test to see where we’re at.”