Brendan Rodgers said it felt as though Celtic had rolled back the years to his first spell in charge of the club with their mauling of Dundee, and he hopes it was the moment that the synergy between himself, the team and the supporters was re-established.

Celtic were six goals to the good by half time after a scintillating attacking display in the opening 45 minutes against a dishevelled Dundee outfit, and they were roared from the pitch by the home support as they made their way back into the dressing room at the interval.

For Rodgers, this was the night that his team clicked and the football he has been hoping to deliver since the summer was finally on display, and he hopes that can be a marker for the last 10 games of the season.

“It felt more like when I was here the first time - that ruthless mentality of the team, simplicity of the game and the football we played,” Rodgers said.

“And that’s why we are here, to entertain the supporters.

“There was a really nice moment at half time when they were coming in. The fans could see then how the level of performance had jumped up. We had everything we wanted from the game - the runs, the movement, the ambition.

“And credit to the players too because I said to them at half time if you come in at the end with the same scoreline you’ll be disappointed. I told them, ‘If you don’t push physically then you’ll come back in with the same scoreline,’.

“But they created more opportunities in the second half and I was so, so pleased for the players.

“It was a top performance. I think it was great. I certainly enjoyed watching that and I think the supporters did too.

“It was great ambition by the team. Dundee have had a fantastic season but I just thought we were at the top of our game tonight. We have players coming back connecting the game, speeding up the tempo of the game, adding creativity to the game and a real ruthless mentality.

“I’ve spoken before about the pitch a few times but I’ve got to give my congratulations to the staff because they’ve been working so hard over the last few weeks to get it to a level that allows us to play at that speed. And you can see the difference it makes.

“So I thought all round, from the stands to the pitch, it was a great night for us.

“I think the tempo of the game and the speed of the game was more like the level I want it to be at.

"It's like the weekend's game (against Motherwell). It's good for your confidence but more so it was the performance.

"I've been saying it all the way through the season. It's about performance levels with the right hunger and desire and having all these players to give us the connections again.

"Tonight was a great night for us, brilliant for the supporters, they went away happy with that.

"Now we're down to 10 games but really our focus is now on the next one."

As pleased as he was with the performance of his players, Rodgers was just as satisfied to hear those old familiar roars from the stands.

"It's everything,” he said.

“There was no anxiety. Clearly, when you're six-nil up at half-time that helps.

"But certainly we gave them something to be proud of and happy about and that's our job.

"We produced a level or performance that excites them and that's always the ambition here.

"The beauty tonight, you saw the players coming back in making a difference.

"We've been playing the same way all season, but when you have your best players that connect everything, the game looks different and that's what we had tonight.

"The combinations, the tempo. I thought Adam Idah was a great reference point for us.

"Deep lying defences, you need your striker to set the game. You know you're going to be crossing a lot and he was very good for us."