Adam Idah Celtic goals dry up but striker told ‘vital contributions’ keep Brendan Rodgers happy

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Adam Idah has stuttered in front of goal for Celtic in recent weeks.

The Irishman has had a few off matches and is without a strike since late November when Idah scored vs Ross County in a 5-0 win in Glasgow.

Brendan Rodgers has handed the striker just 11 starts this season as “scary” Kyogo has been in better form in front of goal.

Yet from his full 30 matches in all competitions, Idah has only struck eight times.

It has been the most difficult spell for the player since his loan stint last season but manager Rodgers is not too worried about his attacker.

After pairing Idah and Kyogo in Celtic’s thumping 4-1 win away to the Staggies on Saturday afternoon, Rodgers was pleased with what he saw from the hitman and the way he linked the play.

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Brendan Rodgers has his say on Adam Idah’s Celtic form

He was not too disappointed in Idah for failing to hit the net for his 11th blank in a row.

Instead he praised the former Norwich City man for providing movement to allow his teammates to get the job done.

“I thought, again, Adam did well at the weekend,” Rodgers said.

“He didn’t get his goal. I think some players are better at rhythm and playing. There are certain positions that you have to produce. That’s the reality of it but I was pleased with his contribution.

“I don’t need my striker to score 40 goals. If you look at any of my teams, the goals are always spread out. What I need is for the players to be intense and to be aggressive.

“There were some great moments for him at the weekend. He didn’t get his goal, but he was there. He had vital contributions, setting up the game for us, and allowing other players to attack the space, and he’s working very, very hard at him.

“I just think it’s one of those things. It will drop for him at some point. If you’re scoring four goals and your striker’s not scoring, then you will take that.”

Has Idah’s low Celtic goals tally affected his confidence?

Asked about Idah’s mentality, Rodgers was clear that he has not been negatively impacted by his own lack of statistics.

Instead, Idah has been able to work alongside the midfield who have scored plenty as well as the wide players who continue to thrive.

“Has a lack of goals affected him? No, I don’t believe so. I think his own personal self and self-pride, you want to score goals as a striker.

“That’s why you’re there, to create goals and score goals. For me, as long as I’m seeing the work rate and the intensity and the mentality, then I’m really happy with that.

“Knowing that the goal-scoring burden doesn’t go to one player, it has to go to the whole team. As long as the team are working well, then that makes me happy. For him, he’s working well.

“He’s been unfortunate. He was sort of near post, and he had a couple of other wee moments but the goals will come from that. He’s shown that he can score goals.”