Celtic turn their attention back to domestic football this week with the visit of Aberdeen on Saturday afternoon.

Much depends on how Rangers go over the coming weeks of the season, particularly the opening Old Firm game, because if the Ibrox side get a decent bit of momentum then I suspect they will be Celtic’s main challengers this season.

However, I fully expect that Aberdeen will be in the equation too. I actually felt that Aberdeen let themselves down last season by not pressing Celtic as much as they should have.

I also think that having Rangers in the league will in some ways enhance the threat that Aberdeen will bring – I think that the Pittodrie side will be stronger when they are not sole challengers.

Last season I didn’t think they coped particularly well knowing that they were the only team pushing Celtic. They didn’t handle that pressure and scrutiny but with Rangers there too then some of the focus has been taken off of them.

Certainly, though, Celtic’s priority will be to maintain the early momentum they have established since their opening game.

One thing that has been apparent – and which we saw during the week in Israel – is the fitness levels of the players. They look strong, they are finishing games strongly and although it was nail-biting affair on Tuesday night, I actually thought that you could see Hapoel tire as the game wore on, perhaps because they had been forced to change things around with two substitutions due to injuries.

The Parkhead side look strong as games come to a close, levels of fitness that are partly thanks to the fact that they began the qualifiers so early. They look strong and they will look to sustain the early pace that they have set in the league now.