Five games played, five games won. Fifteen goals scored, just one conceded. And a first derby victory of the season emphatically claimed.

Whichever way you present the numbers, they all add up to a perfect start to the season for Celtic.

Having built up a very nice early head of steam, their progress may well gather yet more momentum as their next three games are all at home and therefore could create the platform from which the season really takes off.

Hearts are the first visitors to Glasgow’s East End this weekend in a fixture that can surprisingly be described as top versus bottom.

Kilmarnock’s inferior goal difference is the only thing propping the capital side up at the foot of the table while Celtic, with a rejuvenated Aberdeen for company, are racing away with things at the other end.

Should recent form be replicated, and Celtic prevail in front of their own fans, there would remarkably be an eight-point gap to Rangers, who don’t play until Sunday lunchtime. An astonishing potential margin given we’re not even a fortnight into September.

Then comes the real measure of Celtic’s mettle. A winnable Champions League match.

While Slovan Bratislava are clearly a good side, and did well to come through qualifying, this is exactly the kind of game Brendan Rodgers will want to take all three points from if he’s serious about making a dent in Europe’s elite competition.

Getting the new format off to a winning start would be quite the statement from this new Celtic squad. Back-to-back home wins in the Champions League. There was near enough a decade between their previous two Glasgow wins, mind.

And then there’s Rodgers’ reunion with his old colleague John McGlynn, who was an analyst at Celtic during the Northern Irishman’s first tenure.

It’s highly likely the Parkhead boss won’t just enjoy the chance to catch up. If you’d asked him to shake on lower-level opposition at home for a place in a cup semi-final, he’d gladly have extended his arm. If the champions are too strong for Falkirk, they’ll be on their way to Hampden with a place in the last four of the League Cup.

Those are the imminent dates circled in the Celtic manager’s diary.

He’s got a tick in the ‘win’ column for every game so far this season, and given the way he strengthened an already impressive-looking squad in the transfer window, he’ll have every confidence he can extend the streak of victories from five to eight.

That would turn a good start into an ominous one for all of Celtic’s domestic rivals.