Celtic head to Rugby Park this Sunday to take on Kilmarnock in a Premiership match (KO: 12noon), with the Hoops looking to maintain their position at the top of the table.

It’s also the only venue where Brendan Rodgers’ side have suffered a domestic defeat this season, with Killie beating Celtic 1-0 in a League Cup tie back in August.

And while the Celtic manager knows that his side face a tough test on the plastic pitch, he is also confident that his team can deliver a positive result.

Speaking at Lennoxtown today, he said: “Certainly, here the team is now is a far different place to where it was back then,” he said.

“It was probably a good time to play us, with players coming in and the challenges we would have had at the beginning of the season, but it’s a different team now, the organisation, the structure of the team, the attitude – everything is different.

“It doesn’t mean that it’s going to be an easy game. Derek has really put his team in a good place in the top six.

'They’re hard to beat, and we travel there knowing it’s going to be a tough game, but from our perspective, we look like we’re in a different place.'

Sunday’s game against against Kilmarnock is one of nine fixtures for the Hoops from the start of December up to January 2. And while it is a busy schedule, the manager believes his squad will be able to deal with those demands, including this weekend’s game on the artificial surface, something he would like to see the end of in the Premiership.

“That’s part of being a big club – you’re going to get games,” he said, “and I think for every club in this period, there’s games with very little rest and recovery in between.

“But we’ve known that, the players have coped well with it and we’ll now look forward to our next game on Sunday and look to maintain the level.

“It’s clear that every coach would want to play on a grass pitch, and the sooner that is the possibility up here, the better it will be for everybody.

“I understand the economics of it all and what it will mean to some clubs, but I think there should be a certain level and a certain standard of which every team, if you’re playing in the top flight, should have a grass pitch.”

WATCH MANAGER’S FULL PRESS CONFERENCE

The demands of playing for a big club
Squad injury update
The challenge of facing Kilmarnock at Rugby Park
Attacking focus of the Celtic team

Manager: We're in better shape for this visit to Rugby Park