Aberdeen captain Ryan Jack is confident his side is ready for the challenge of trying to beat Celtic.
The Hoops went top of the Scottish Premiership after the 3-1 win at St Johnstone on Saturday, but the Dons are hot on their heels after they made it five wins out of five with a 2-0 victory at Partick Thistle.
Derek McInnes’ side is one point behind Celtic with a game in hand and the scene is already set for a huge early season encounter at Pittodrie when the sides meet on September 12.
Having lost all four league meetings to the Hoops last season Jack is eager to make amends in the first game after the international break.
He said: “We know to beat Celtic we will have to be at our very best. The supporters chanted bring on the Celtic, which is to be expected, but we believe in ourselves.
“There is always room for improvement and the Celtic game will be tough, but it is one we are looking forward to. We’ve won five games on the bounce and compared to last season we are in a better points position.
“Celtic have made signings and improved as well, but it’s a game we will try to meet the challenge of head on. Last season we had some great runs of results but we never did ourselves justice in the games against them as we lost all four. Hopefully we can beat them at Pittodrie this time.
“There is a lot of belief in the squad and the players believe in what the manager is going to do.”
Confidence is certainly not in short supply at Pittodrie after the Dons matched the team of 1984-85’s record of winning the first five matches of the campaign on Saturday thanks to goals from Adam Rooney and Kenny McLean.
Captain Jack is thriving in the role of leading the side and hopes he can catch the eye of Scotland manager Gordon Strachan by impressing at club level this season.
He said: “I’ve loved every minute of being captain so far. I knew it was going to be a big challenge as I haven’t captained the club before but it will do me good.
“If you ask any player they want to play for their country. I’d love to, but I know there is strong squad there and for me to get myself in the squad I’m going to have to play brilliantly every week for Aberdeen.”