Martin O'Neill is confident Celtic can now go on and secure the Scottish Premiership title after last weekend's big win over Rangers.
Brendan Rodgers secured a derby day victory at Ibrox to ensure his side are four points clear of their rivals heading into the international break.
O'Neill was delighted with the result and performance by his former side and he now believes the victory has given Celtic a platform to go on and improve.
Speaking to Ladbrokes Fanzone, O'Neill said: "That was a big result for Celtic at the weekend... a good result for Brendan in particular, too. When you look at the circumstances in which he left the football club, not every Celtic fan was best pleased with the reappointment of him. But matches like that can work absolute wonders for a manager trying to cement their place back in the hearts of the fans.
"But that win against Rangers is huge in the title race, even this early in the season. As for Rangers... what a bad couple of days for them; getting knocked out of Champions League qualifying, in terms of prestige it's bad enough, but also the finance side of things, it's a huge blow to them. Celtic have the upper hand over them in that respect, and they're four points clear of them in the league - Celtic should be able to go on and win that title now, you would expect."
O'Neill was also excited by Celtic's Champions League draw. The Hoops were drawn against Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord and he believes his former side will have a fighting chance to qualify out of the group.
He added: "The draw for the Champions League has been made, and while you're never going to get it easy, things could have been much more difficult for them.
"They're going to give themselves a great chance of making the knockout stage, and that would be huge, because Celtic thrive on those European nights. Things haven't been so good in recent years in terms of results in Europe, so it would be great if they could rectify that this season."
