The 5-0 win over Astana has thrown a completely new complexion on Celtic’s trip to Kilmarnock on Saturday.
He won’t admit it but Brendan Rodgers knows that Tuesday’s match in Kazakhstan is a formality without any of the tension of last season’s trip to Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Astana will be shown full respect on Tuesday but without the cloud on the horizon the Celtic boss can take a slightly bolder approach to the match at Rugby Park.
For the third weekend running Celtic kick off the SPFL programme knowing that they can apply some extra pressure to their ‘challengers’ at the top of the Premiership.
Much has been made of the strength in depth that Rodgers has built up but that is only relevant if the back-up squad can come in and deliver results.
That theory was tested and answered spectacularly in the League Cup tie against Killie ten days ago with the ‘B’ team putting in the best domestic performance of the season.
With a strong degree of confidence Rodgers knows that he can rest half of his big hitters without too much risk to the league campaign which will come in very useful once the Champions League group fixtures kick in.
After the high of Wednesday night things are bound to be a bit more mundane at Rugby Park- with a mix of regulars and younger prospects there’s no reason to expect anything other than an away win with a good few goals thrown in to maintain the early season momentum.