Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes insists his side is ready for the challenge of proving they remain best of the rest in Scottish football in 2018.
The Dons are eight points behind leaders Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership and three points clear of third placed Rangers after 22 matches while Hibernian and an improving Hearts are showing signs of mounting a challenge in the second half of the campaign.
McInnes knows the competition is going to be even tougher this term.
He said: “What’s going to be clear for me, is that it is going to be much tighter at the top this year.
“We’ve secured second spot way before the end of the season in previous years.
“I think we were as clear as 17 points when Hearts came back up, last year was nine and the year before that it was 16. Second spot was always secured.
“We didn’t just get second spot, we properly secured it without any real fuss. Last year it was by nine points against a newly-promoted Rangers team and this year we have a newly-promoted Hibs team to go alongside Hearts and Rangers.
“It shows that it is a stronger league when so many teams are up there. That brings its own challenges but we’re enjoying it and we’ve always had confidence in ourselves.
“There are a lot of good teams operating in the league at the minute and you don’t get away with below-par performances too much and expect to win games, especially against teams who are in the top half of the table this season.”
McInnes, who has guided his side to runners-up spot in the last three seasons, is pleased with the start to the season for his side but believes there is still room for improvement.
He said: “For us to be five points better off than we were at this stage last year is very pleasing and probably surprises a lot of people given the changes which were made but we’re in a good position.
“We lost a lot of players in the summer and while we have won more games we haven’t had too many where we have wiped the floor with teams and won by a big margin.
“We’ve won more games through doing enough but I feel there is more to come from us. It has taken time for players to settle and a few of the lads who came in hadn’t played for a while but it is pleasing that we have stayed consistent.
“ Hopefully we can continue to show that same consistency after the winter break.”