The current TOP 14 leaders failed to score a point in Pool 3 in 2018/19, but Mignoni insisted: “We took a lot of positive lessons, despite the fact that the results were, of course, negative.

“We’ve done significant work within the team, so that we make progress this year. I hope we’re going to show that we’ve made progress. That’s the goal that we’ve set ourselves, anyway.”

Progress in the opinion of the 42-year-old former France scrum-half would be winning a few matches in Pool 1, where Lyon have been drawn against four-time winners Leinster Rugby, 2000 champions Northampton Saints and Benetton Rugby.

“I think we need to set a reasonable goal, but we want to be in this competition this season and, we hope, in the years to come,” said Mignoni, who has won the trophy three times as a coach. “We’re building the team and we’re building our history. 

“We’re not yet at the level of Leinster or Northampton, who have played a lot of matches in this competition, like [Benetton Rugby] Treviso, so we’re trying to build on our past experiences, which are very recent. 

“As I said, we want to continue making progress and to win a match and maybe two or three - why not? And we want to try to do our best.”

Lyon have stunned French rugby this season by winning seven of their first eight TOP 14 games to march four points clear at the head of the table.

However, Mignoni stressed: “I don’t think that gives us more confidence. What gives us more confidence is that we know more about this competition.

“We know that last year we were taken a little bit by surprise in the first two matches, because it’s very different from the TOP 14. It’s a type of rugby that’s sometimes a little different.

“It’s a competition that goes very quickly. It will be difficult to qualify, but we’ll grow into this competition and we’ll see what that brings.”

Lyon director of rugby Pierre Mignoni is looking for the French club to show they are making progress in the Heineken Champions Cup this season, after losing all six of their matches in their debut campaign last term.