It’s time for Adam Idah to come to the fore for Celtic.
The Irishman did just that against Aston Villa with a sensational double which proved the big man has exactly what it takes to succeed at Parkhead.
Kyogo has left for Rennes now and Idah showed he has what it takes to succeed the Japanese hitman as Celtic’s ‘long-term’ striker prospect.
It was a case of ‘who needs Kyogo anyway’, said Chris Sutton after the Villa Champions League tie and manager Brendan Rodgers appeared to agree at full-time, in less words, of course.
- READ MORE: Watch what Unai Emery did as Celtic’s Adam Idah’s Champions League double rattled Aston Villa
Adam Idah hit a Celtic Champions League double
The manager has always defended his player and applauded Idah’s contributions even if it has not always been in front of goal or beefing up his assists statistics.
On Wednesday evening, though, Idah banged in a terrific volley before sweeping home a brilliant team move to silence any lingering doubts from supporters.
And Rodgers was chuffed for the striker who is always a “handful”.
And it’s clear the 23-year-old regularly goes under the radar where workrate is concerned.
Rodgers applauded ‘handful’ Adam Idah after Celtic vs Aston Villa
The manager said: “Adam done really well. You can see he tired a little bit because he’s not played so much but they were two big goals for him.
“His movement into the box, he’s made a couple of runs and he’s had to adjust for a great finish and then the second is a great team goal.
“He is where he should be in the box for the squared-pass and he finishes.
“I thought he was a handful all night and that will be big for his confidence.”
Morgan Rogers nabbed himself a hat-trick for Villa as Ollie Watkins added to the scoreline after the latter missed a penalty following a controversial Auston Trusty challenge.
It sets up a glamour tie for Celts who know they will face one of two European giants.
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