Adam Idah opens up on Celtic pressure, social media, being main man and Harry Kane swap

Adam Idah was given the weekend off ahead of Celtic’s huge Champions League play-off match against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

Such a move was one of the bankers of the weekend. Idah is manager Brendan Rodgers’ preferred option to perform the No 9 role. As Celtic defeated Raith Rovers 5-0 to progress to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, the Irishman remained huddled up in his tracksuit as an unused substitute.

The 23-year-old is set to be stripped for action against Bayern, though - even if Daizen Maeda is now free of suspension after a successful appeal to reduce his two-game ban. Having ended a 14-goal drought last time out in the Champions League when he scored twice against Aston Villa, Idah is full of confidence. He has netted four goals in his past three appearances across all competitions and is part of a frontline tasked with helping Celtic forget about Kyogo Furuhashi.

Adam Idah is taking everything in his stride at Celtic. | SNS Group

So far, so good in that regard. Furuhashi was sold to Rennes for £10 million last month and while the Japanese has yet to find the net in France, Celtic have scored 21 goals in the four matches since his departure. Much was made of Celtic’s inability to purchase a replacement in the final days of the transfer window but the form of Idah, Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and Jota – plus others chipping in from midfield – has silenced those critics.

Now is the time for Idah to shine, however. The Irishman was signed for £9m last summer following a successful six-month loan deal and the onus is on him to lead the Celtic frontline. Such a thought does not faze the laid-back striker in the slightest.

“I wouldn't really say there's much pressure there, to be honest,” said a relaxed Idah. “I've been a striker all my life, I've been scoring goals all my life, and it's just the same thing what I'm doing.

“I think a lot of people probably overreact, the pressure and the job. It's the same thing I've been doing all this time, so it's exciting and hopefully I can score a lot more.”

He continued: “That's why I came to the club. I didn't come here to sit on the bench and not be out there, I wanted to be the main man. Of course, when Kyogo was here, he was that at the time, and he was unbelievable. He's gone now, so it's my responsibility, and hopefully I can keep that job and keep the number nine shirt, and score as many goals as I can.

“I've probably not really had this in my career yet, to hopefully be the main man, so it's an exciting role for me.”

Idah believes he now has the maturity to deal with being the principal striker for a major club. He has gone on barren runs before and says he is better equipped to deal with the mental challenges of being in such a position.

Adam Idah has rediscovered his shooting boots for Celtic. | SNS Group

“I think it's probably something I've learned from when I was at Norwich,” explained Idah. “I used to get on top of myself a lot and probably look at what other people were saying quite a bit. I think the older I got and the more games I've played, the more players I've played with, I've realised there's always ups and downs in football.

“You can get a real high and the next week you're at the bottom again, so I think you do have to keep quite level-headed and that's what I've been like.

“It's more difficult nowadays with all the social media! But I suppose when I was a bit younger, I would probably struggle a bit, but right now, no matter what you do, I think there's always going to be people that are complaining.

“I even saw the other day that some people were complaining that I didn't smile after I scored, so there's always something, and I think as a football player you just have to learn to brush past it and just keep doing what you're doing.”

If Idah is looking for any goalscoring inspiration on Wednesday night, he only needs to look at the other end of the pitch. England captain Harry Kane will be leading the line for Bayern Munich, having scored 28 goals in 28 games for the current Bundesliga leaders.

Idah has played against Kane before for club and country and even has the former Tottenham man’s shirt from a previous encounter between Republic of Ireland and England.

“Obviously he's a world-class striker, he's unbelievable,” continued Idah. “I've played against him loads of times before, and I think watching him live, it's unbelievable. I think as he's got older, he's probably played a different sort of role to what I would play, but even at that, he's still a world-class striker.

Harry Kane is Bayern Munich's main man in attack. | Getty Images

“He's someone that I look up to, even when I was younger, what he did for Tottenham, and what he's doing for Bayern Munich now is unbelievable, so it'll be great to play against him and see what he's like.

“I think he's got a bit of everything, and a lot of people probably say he looks slow in the eye and he doesn't run in behind, but it's not the case.

“When I've played against him, he can pretty much do everything, and we've seen recently he's the type of striker now that's dropping in deep and he's scoring goals from anywhere.

“So yeah, I think he's a versatile striker, he's obviously world-class, he's unbelievable and I'm looking forward to playing against him.”