Slick Celtic's contrast with Rangers could not be more stark as one man is new signing

You can never read too much into pre-season although the positive signs were very much evident for Brendan Rodgers' side following a US tour that saw them inflict defeats on Man City and Chelsea, putting four goals past both.

They were never likely to find the space they exploited to great effect in those friendly wins against a packed Scottish Premiership defence but even when presented with an altogether different challenge, the outcome was still the same.

Four goals, 32 shots, 82 per cent possession, free-flowing football - all the ingredients were there for a Celtic side who look like they are starting as they mean to go on. And that is without making a single new outfield signing with two goalkeepers and a loanee from last season the only summer arrivals so far at Parkhead, albeit with almost all of last season's double-winning squad still intact, minus the retired Joe Hart and barely used striker Oh Hyeon-gyu. The contrast to a mid-rebuild Rangers side already playing catch-up after an opening day goalless draw at Hearts could not be more stark.

The lack of new arrivals is a bugbear for Celtic fans but a revitalised Reo Hatate could be as good as a new signing. The Japanese midfielder struggled to find his feet under Rodgers initially last term - he was left on the bench for last season's league opener behind David Turnbull and then struggled with injuries - but he has started this campaign with a flourish, setting Celtic on their way with the opening goal on 17 minutes with a measured finish from 18 yards to cap off a dynamic display that reminded of his contributions under previous boss Ange Postecoglou.

Nicolas Kuhn is another who looks like a different animal. His two goals in the 4-3 win over Man City on US soil certainly got Celtic fans talking, and he lived up to the pre-season hype against Kilmarnock. He appears a quicker and stronger player than the one who struggled to make much impact in the second half of last season following his January arrival from Rapid Vienna. One 70-yard run down the right touchline brought the crowd to their feet before he capped off his performance with the third goal on the hour mark, albeit courtesy of a wicked deflection.

It came after Liam Scales had doubled Celtic's lead late in the first-half with a towering header from a Matt O'Riley corner while Anthony Ralston, who replaced Alistair Johnston late on, grabbed a fourth in second-half injury-time after Robby McCrorie had parried a Kyogo Furuhashi effort.

The one caveat over the Celtic performance would be that this was a Kilmarnock side with a makeshift defence and feeling the aftereffects of a tough European assignment in Brugge on Thursday night.

Derek McInnes was forced to hand 19-year-old Oliver Bainbridge a baptism of fire with a first-ever appearance in senior football in front of 60,000 spectators just 48 hours after arriving on loan from Sunderland.

Killie battled their corner but were never really in this game. The main positive for Derek McInnes was no fresh injuries ahead of welcoming Tromso to Rugby Park on Thursday in the Europa Conference League.