Speaking ahead of the game, Ange Postecoglou said: “The playing group have already put last season in the history books.

“On the first day of pre-season, they came back and worked hard and understood there’s a new challenge ahead for us in the new season with new things to be achieved.

'For us, it was put to bed probably four weeks ago, but symbolically, Sunday is the final day we can recognise the fantastic achievement as we start the new adventure that awaits.'

“This season will be tough, but no tougher than last year.

“It’s hard to assess things in pre-season because every manager thinks they’ve had a great pre-season and every signing has been fantastic, but that all unfolds in the reality of competition over the next few weeks.

“We didn’t have a great pre-season last year but it didn’t stop us from being successful.

“For us, all we can do is concentrate on ourselves and know that whatever lies ahead, we’re going to have to be at our best to be successful and, starting Sunday, we need to perform at the levels we know we can.”

Aberdeen heads to Glasgow for matchday one of the campaign, as Jim Goodwin brings his new-look Dons to Celtic Park aiming to improve on their bottom six finish last year.

With a fresh group of players at Goodwin's disposal, Ange Postecoglou knows they will be a difficult test as he hopes to lay down a strong performance to set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

He added: “It will be a good challenge. It’s always difficult when a manager comes in mid-season like Jim Goodwin did, but now he’s got his squad together and he’s made a lot of changes and it’s been a positive start for them in the cup.

'They’ve had four good games so they’re game-ready which is always a challenge for us, but at the same time, we’ve had a good pre-season with good competitive friendly games which have been good for us.'

“The squad’s in a good place health-wise and we’re at home in front of our fans, and we want to make sure we lay down a strong marker for the year ahead.

“Irrespective of who you play in the first game, there’s always a bit of unknown there because everyone starts the season feeling optimistic about their chances and it’s only after the first 90 minutes you can assess how you’re going.”

Ange Postecoglou: We want to lay down a strong marker on Sunday