Brendan Rodgers knows his side are in for a tricky test any time he comes up against a Derek McInnes side.
In fact, Rodgers is so impressed by the former Aberdeen boss that he suggested McInnes could go from the blue and white of Kilmarnock to the royal blue of Rangers in the future.
The Celtic manager reckons McInnes - who was close to the Rangers dugout position previously - is an obvious candidate for the Ibrox post in the future.
Asked if McInnes is tactically good enough to earn a big move, Rodgers said: “Aye, there is no doubt about that. He knows the game, he is good with players, he knows what he wants and when you are well organised.
"He was very close to getting Rangers a few years ago and why could he not manage Rangers?
“He is a former player there, he was a really good player, part of a successful era of the club.
"There is absolutely no doubt that could be one for him in the future or beyond that.
"There is no doubt he is an outstanding manager.”
Rodgers previously recommended McInnes to the Scottish FA as a future Scotland manager but he wasn't surprised to see him take on the Kilmarnock job and win promotion from the Championship.
"I remember exchanging messages with him and again it is all about life," he explained. "He was away for nearly a decade, a long time at Aberdeen and away before that so he has been away from home for a long time and as you get older as a coach and as a manager, yes the football is important because you have compromised a lot over your life and your career but there comes a time when you don’t have to or you don’t want to [compromise].
"I think for him taking on Kilmarnock, which was a top-flight club that sadly had dropped down, it brought him closer to home. He is a Glasgow boy and he could live down this way. He was going to be supported well and it has worked out well for him.
"They got promoted, stayed in the Premiership and built up to push on. So it wasn’t a surprise to me, knowing he is a top-class manager and that his qualities and abilities are at least in the Scottish Premiership but with Killie he obviously saw a project there in a number of ways.”
On whether McInnes is under-appreciated as a manager, Rodgers added: “It is sadly what happens when you are a British coach, especially if you are homegrown. If you look at somebody’s body of work of time then you can see what they are. You can see that with him.
"Every manager has their ups and downs but you see over a period of time the work and level of work he has done. His teams are, for me, always up there with the best organised in the country and up there being really competitive.
“To have that you have to have a way about you with players, with dealing with the many things that go on at a club on a day-to-day basis and be able to do it consistently. He has shown all of those qualities.”
