Celtic’s Adam Idah sent Republic of Ireland warning despite national boss’ Senegal praise

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Adam Idah is enjoying life at Celtic this season.

The big Irishman has bagged 20 goals this season as Idah hit back at his Celtic critics after winning a league and cup double at Parkhead.

Idah came under fire last season as the £8.5m price tag Celtic paid has led to some unfair criticism of the 24-year-old Hoops hitman.

However, despite that, the Celtic striker was still called up by Ireland for the double-header against Senegal and Lithuania and it appears that he has impressed national boss Heimir Hallgrimsson.

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Heimir Hallgrimsson talks up Celtic’s Adam Idah’s ‘positive’ Republic of Ireland outing

Idah played the full 90 minutes of Ireland’s 1-1 draw with Senegal and despite not having a single shot on target, Hallgrimsson was still impressed by the Celtic striker.

Hallgrimsson told the Irish Examiner, “Adam deserved to start against Senegal.

“He produced a solid performance. His workrate was, I thought, better than often before. Again, it’s healthy competition up front.

“Adam took the job seriously. It (workrate) has not been an issue but in his club it’s just so different a role (that) it’s difficult to switch.

“We need a lot of defending from our strikers and he’s just not used to it at Celtic – where they have their possession at say 60/70/80% in games.

“The space he needs to work on in games is small. It’s a switch and hopefully players are learning more and more.

“He is growing. He knows what we expect, so that’s a positive sign.”

Why Celtic hero Adam Idah could be dropped for Republic of Ireland

With the Republic of Ireland’s next fixture against Lithuania up in the next few days, Idah has been warned he will be benched for the upcoming match.

Troy Parrott called off sick for the Senegal match and it seems the Celtic striker is going to make way for the AZ Alkmaar forward.

Hallgrimsson told The Irish Sun, “When a player is sick, we’re not doing him a favour playing him if he’s 80 percent.

“We would obviously like to play him fully fit and give him the chance to show himself when he is fully fit.

“He was OK. Probably he would have come into this game were it not for the injury to Robbie Brady in the end but we will see him play in two days.”

At just 24, Idah appears to be maturing his game and with his first full pre-season at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers coming up this summer, fans will be expecting to see a much more improved striker next season.