Brendan Rodgers will look for Celtic to preserve their unbeaten domestic status against Aberdeen this afternoon, but he is no stranger to Dons boss Derek McInnes.

The duo spoke when McInnes was in charge at Bristol City before then negotiating last season when Liverpool keeper Danny Ward went to Pittodrie on a loan deal.

“He is an excellent coach,” enthused Rodgers. “It was tough for him at Bristol City and I spoke to him a couple of times when he was there. He inherited a squad with a lot of players. “The club was struggling at the time but he will have learned from that. He came back up North and I spoke to him a couple of times again and I watched from afar and I thought he was doing an excellent job.

“His teams are tough to beat and Aberdeen are historically a great club up here and I have a lot of respect for them. They have a lot of young players, some of whom I know. I had Jonny Hayes at Reading when he was just 16 and I know Jonny well.

“He is a player I also considered taking to Swansea. The young boy Rooney is good in the air, strong, scores goals, so they have good players and we respect them.

“They will come and want to impose their game on us but our focus is very much on ourselves, especially at home where we want to win the game. The atmosphere will be brilliant and we want to push on and keep this going.

“In my conversations with him I always felt Derek was a guy who wanted to do it well. He is very professional, works well and he picks young players and give them a chance. We felt it was a great chance for Wardy to come and play in a proper league and get some experience at a good club. I had no hesitation when Derek asked – he is a good guy.”

Rodgers want to give his players the chance to get their feet up – but not before today’s game.

“There is no time to rest,” said the Celtic manager. “They have put a lot into the game but I will always pick a team that I think can win the game.”

After the international week the intensity of Celtic’s season accelerates, with a blizzard of games; first up will be Rangers and then Barcelona.

“It is not Loch Lomond, is it?” said Rodgers. “But that is the great life. That is the life we are in and this is the challenges that we want. After the international break or after Aberdeen there is a mental break and then the focus is on the Rangers, a great game to come into. That is why you qualify, why you want to be in the competition because between now and Christmas there are these games, all at a great level. So we look forward to them.”