ADAM Rooney spent much of Saturday evening fielding questions about whether Aberdeen, who had just toppled Celtic off their perch at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership, could sustain their title bid this season.

The Irishman, whose well-taken second half penalty had levelled a pulsating and engrossing contest at Pittodrie, speculated as best he could about how Derek McInnes’s side would fare in the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.

However, having only played the first six league games – albeit the first six league games which the Dons have, for the first time in their entire 112 year history, won – it was very hard for him to state with any certainty whether the north-east club can maintain their challenge.

“It’s only September,” said Rooney. “It is very early in the season. We just need to keep going and try to keep the momentum going. If we do that then we will see where it takes us.”

Indeed, despite the growing excitement in Aberdeen, there are still another eight months or so of the season to go, still another 32 matches still to be played and still another 96 points up for grabs. So much can, and very probably will, happen during that time.

There is, though, no doubt that things are looking decidedly promising for Rooney and his buoyant team mates at this stage. Their epic 2-1 triumph at the weekend sent them two points clear at the head of the top flight table. They can stretch that to five points if they defeat Hamilton in their game at in hand at home tomorrow evening.

The result was hugely significant psychologically. Last term Aberdeen lost all four of their league meetings with Celtic, conceding nine goals and scoring just two in the process, and were dismissed by some as serious contenders as a consequence of that deeply unimpressive run of results against their main rivals.

Rooney was adamant that record against the Scottish champions had not damaged confidence. Nevertheless, the victory at the weekend, particularly the manner of it, will have a positive impact subconsciously on the striker and those around him.

“The matches that let us down last season were against Celtic,” he said. “We wanted to set down a bit of a marker and to start well against them. Thankfully, we did that. We know our squad and that we are capable of beating anyone. We now need to show consistency over the course of the season.”

There can, irrespective of the controversy over referee Craig Thomson’s performance, certainly be no denying that Aberdeen deserved the victory at the weekend. They recovered well after falling behind to a Leigh Griffiths spot kick in the first half.

Rooney equalised and, after Jonny Hayes had been red carded for a challenge on Mikael Lustig, took the lead with four minutes remaining when Paul Quinn got on the end of a Niall McGinn free-kick and diverted the ball past Craig Gordon.

Rooney revealed his manager would not be content to bask in the afterglow of this win . “There is no let up with him,” he said. “He wants to win every game. We don’t go in thinking we will be lucky to get a point here. He wants us to take games to teams and to get the first goal. We know the strength we have in this squad and we are getting stronger with the calibre of player that is coming in. We are confident we can keep going now.

“We are always confident going into any game. We have more confidence in our own group. We know Celtic are a good side, but we have players who can hurt anyone. We have pace and several different options, even boys on the bench who can come on and give us different options.”

Indeed, with Willo Flood, David Goodwillie, Josh Parker, Peter Pawlett and Barry Robson all on the bench on Saturday it is obvious Aberdeen have the strength in depth required to keep their impressive start going.

This Aberdeen side has shown once again they are not daunted by the heady achievements of Sir Alex Ferguson’s great teams of the past. Their six game winning start bettered the record set way back in the 1984/85 season. That also augurs well for the future.

And what of Ronny Deila’s side? How Celtic acquit themselves will be as important, if not more so, than how Aberdeen do to the outcome of the Premiership. They will have to do better, a lot better, than they did if they are to retain their crown.

A new-look defence – Boyata partnered Mulgrew in the heart of the rearguard as Tyler Blackett made his debut at left back – may have been partially responsible for the poor showing by the visitors. The latter will certainly not relish seeing the winning goal again. He should have cleared the ball to safety.

But the Parkhead club’s problems run deeper than that. They looked weary and lacking in inspiration going forward. Griffiths was possibly the only player to earn pass marks. Why Kris Commons was left on the bench as Stefan Johansen once again struggled to assert himself was puzzling.

Deila is facing a huge test of his stewardship. Defeat to Ajax in a Europa League group game in Amsterdam on Thursday will increase the pressure on the manager following a bitterly disappointing failure to qualify for the Champions League group stages.