For large parts of the 1-1 draw between Celtic and Wolverhampton Wanderers, some just watching in passing would be forgiven for thinking that the Premier League side hailed from Glasgow instead of the West Midlands, given the way the game was panning out at the Aviva Stadium.

Indeed, Celtic were a joy to watch, especially from the midfield onwards. In the middle of the park, the duo of Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate were key to everything positive coming from the Scottish champions in a progressive sense, with Matt O’Riley chipping in as well on occasion. In all honesty, the game could have – and probably should have – been out of sight by the time the whistle blew for the end of the first half. Celtic had a barrel-load of chances but were uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal, which cost them in the end.

However, despite the late equaliser from Matheus Cunha from the penalty spot, after a debatable call from the official, Celtic can take so many positives from their penultimate game of pre-season, especially against the players that Wolves can field and then introduce later on.

Their manager Julen Lopetegui – cutting a disgruntled figure before the match in his interview – has the ability to bring on big-money signings such as Hwang Hee-chan and Fabio Silva, a luxury that Celtic and Brendan Rodgers, unfortunately, cannot afford.

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Speaking of the Hoops boss, he was pleased with how the game panned out for the most part. Rodgers said: "The workout was perfect for us. I thought we had some spells of fantastic football, and it was the perfect type of game that we needed. The team is obviously playing well but there are certain phases of the play we can improve, but I thought in the build-up, we were really good under pressure. It is just about the positional elements and on Tuesday we will play two teams as players need to get some minutes into their legs and then that will be our final preparation before the season starts.”

Some intriguing comments about the preparations for Tuesday’s game. It will be interesting to see what players are allocated to each squad and what that means regarding their place in Rodgers’ plans going forward. Expect movement both in and out of the club before the end the closure of the transfer window.

Pre-match, there seemed to be a collective groan from many sections as to how Celtic were lining up defensively, especially in the centre. Swedish stalwart Carl Starfelt was nowhere to be seen in the matchday squad, and new signing Maik Nawrocki was ruled out through injury, meaning a makeshift partnership of Stephen Welsh and Liam Scales had to be named for this clash.

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These fears were not lessened or eased early on, following a defensive mix-up from Scales and goalkeeper Joe Hart in the first minute of the game following kick-off. You could be forgiven for thinking that this was going to be a long afternoon at the office, but Celtic and their attackers duly responded with a bang from their main man.

Following Daizen Maeda’s sparkling start to pre-season playing through the middle, it was time for Kyogo Furuhashi to assume his rightful place as head of the Celtic attacking table. In what was a great showing of pressing and determination from the team, Kyogo and Hatate managed to dispossess Mario Lemina before a perfectly weighted lay-off from Abada allowed the striker to side-foot the ball home past Jose Sa in the Wolves net.

Of course, Celtic would have expected a response from their opposition, which would put the aforementioned makeshift defence under pressure. For the most part, the pairing of Scales and Welsh did all that was asked of them. An unconventional defensive partnership, yes, but one that did not concede from open play against a strong Premier League side – at least on paper.

Constantly throwing their bodies on the line in order to keep the West Midlands side out, it took a contentious penalty decision to get the better of the pair in terms of equalising. Even then, both defenders could do nothing about the slight, if any, contact from Joe Hart on Matt Doherty, which lead to Wolves evening up the game late on.

It must be clearly underlined that despite the competent performances of both, this cannot be the starting centre-back pairing for Celtic and Rodgers going forward. Perhaps the pair may have drummed up interest with their Dublin showing, but it is fair to say that their careers at the club may be winding down and towards the exit door.

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There was even time for a pair of debutants to make their respective Celtic bows in the form of South Korean duo Kwon Hyeok-kyu and Yang Hyun-jun. The former slotted into the deepest role of midfield as a traditional defensive midfielder, whilst the latter operated as a right-winger on what was a big day for both players in their young careers.

Both were keen to make an immediate impact and did not let their heads drop when they made mistakes. Fellow newcomer Odin Thiago Holm also got more minutes, though his performance was more muted than that of Kwon and Yang in truth. Early days, but the signs are good.

It was a worthwhile exercise for Celtic, with plenty more minutes now in the tank for the vast majority of the travelling squad. As the league campaign draws ever closer, you can expect Rodgers’ core group to form off the back of this match and the forthcoming game against Athletic Club. The levels should continue to rise as they have done with each game, leading to Celtic ideally starting the upcoming season with a flurry against Ross County