Carl Starfelt is refusing to go overboard or get carried away.
But the Swedish defender is adamant that evolving Celtic are starting to find some rhythm.
And Starfelt is also convinced there are more and more good days ahead as positivity continues to course around Parkhead.
Ange Postecoglou ’s troops moved themselves back to within four points of the top of the Premiership table with their weekend win at Motherwell.
With major upheaval requiring almost a new team to arrive since last term and more captures needing to be sourced and recruited in January, it has not been plain sailing for the boss and his new group.
It takes time for new faces to settle. Time for new signings to adapt to the style of the Scottish game and the demands of the club.
Starfelt has been amongst those who has had to learn very quickly having joined from Russians Rubin Kazan for £4 million.
Slowly but surely, it’s settling. Postecoglou’s men backed up a first away win of the season in top-flight at Aberdeen with a quickfire second at Fir Park in their next outing with a performance which was full of control and composure.
At the same time, the Scandinavian and his backline were able to savour a first clean sheet on the road at the ninth attempt.
Starfelt knew it was not going to be an overnight transformation. Just as he also knows the smooth 90-minute showing in Lanarkshire does not mean every problem at Parkhead is now fixed.
But it’s more baby steps in the right direction and he said: “We had some injuries and some guys coming in late like myself, but now I feel we have most of our players back and some more who are really experienced are also coming back.
“So it’s positive and so was the last game. It’s positive at Celtic right now. I think we will continue to grow and grow.
“It is nice as a defender to get a clean sheet, of course. Also for the whole team, but the most important thing is that we win.
“We had a very solid performance and I felt we dominated most parts of the game. To win 2-0 makes us very happy as it was away from home and it is not easy to go there, so I think we did a good job.
“Of course, it is one clean sheet and we should not fly away with it. We need to keep working hard and have stuff that we need to keep working on.
“But I feel we are getting more and more comfortable with each other and also just the way we are playing.
“I don’t think we have reached our maximum performance yet, but we are playing better and better and that is an important thing.
“We had a good performance and it started by keeping the ball well. That gives them little time to be able to attack us. It starts there.
“Then we got the ball, we had control over their strengths.
“We are happy with it, but it’s straight to another big game on Tuesday, so we recharge the batteries and go again.
“We were good, but, as I said, it is just one game, so we should not think now everything is fine.”
Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers have had to start a partnership from scratch and the duo did their bit to ensure Joe Hart didn’t have a save to make against the Steelmen.
The Swede said: “The more you play alongside someone, the more you begin to understand each other. But it’s not just about two players, it’s about the whole team and I think we have so many games that you have to change players.
“But it’s about having a strong core on the pitch. When you have that, you change players here and there and it will still be stable.
“I feel we are taking a step in the right direction.”
To give more encouragement to Postecoglou about having a solidity to his team, Christopher Jullien is also closing in on a return.
The £7 million French stopper has been training with his colleagues after a long-term knee injury which has kept him out of the first-time for almost 10 months.
Starfelt said: “I haven’t seen him play too much, but I think he’s a good player.
“He’s a great guy and I’ve trained with him in a couple of sessions. He is looking sharp and we hope to have him back soon.”
Jullien’s return will give Starfelt a fight to keep his starting shirt.
But these are exactly the type of selection problems which Postecoglou wants and did not have in the early weeks of his reign as he, at times, struggled to get an experienced backline on the pitch and was forced to turn to kids such as untried teenager Dane Murray.
Starfelt now hopes Celtic can maintain their momentum in the coming weeks both at home and in Europe with a double header against Ferenvaros in the Europa League also looming before the final international break of the calendar year next month.
He said: “We will keep working hard and, hopefully, we’ll get more games like the one at Motherwell where we can show ourselves.”
