Big Idah has shown again what a great player he can be for Celtic, and just in time to matter.

Adam Idah was excellent yesterday.

He will almost certainly now play at Ibrox because of the injury to Jota. I have little doubt that he will put on a show there. He is very capable on those kinds of occasions, and right now he is buzzing after a couple of goals in the last few games. His critics have been at it again, but I suspect only for a while because his critics will never really be silenced. Adam Idah will have those critics as long as he is here.

Idah is an easy target for two reasons. The first is the price tag, which isn’t his fault. But secondly, he’s always going to come under scrutiny of a most unpleasant sort because he’s a Celtic player; every one of our players goes through this.

Every one of our players knows what it’s like. A few bad games and the media is all over you. Ibrox players can go on holiday for months at a time, and the moment they have a good game suddenly they’re world beaters. But not a Celtic player.

We get judged to a different standard.

Nevertheless, some of the criticism of Idah has been not only over the top but manifestly ridiculous. He has had stick from every avenue, including a lot of our own fans who should know better by now. I’ve been hugely impressed with his attitude in the last couple of weeks, especially with media stories swirling around him about his private life, which is never good for anybody, and no footballer should have to withstand.

All a guy can do is just keep on doing the business on the pitch, right? There’s no other answer. There’s no other solution. But he has to know that the fans are behind him and he has to know that the manager is behind him, and after that it doesn’t matter at all who else is and who else isn’t. I think his scoring record with us is excellent.

He’s doing a fine job. This has been the best season of his career in terms of putting the ball in the net. And if he keeps on improving at the rate that he is, he’s a 30-goal striker.

Rodgers is right anyway; it’s not even about how many goals a player scores. It’s about the work that a player puts in. It’s about the team ethic, and I think he is a fantastic team player as much as anything else. He’s a proper good soldier, is Idah, and although you can tell how much it means to him to be in the side and to be playing in the team, he never makes a big song and dance when he isn’t. He’s one of those players who waits for his opportunity and then acts on it.

And now he’s got a chance to impress all the way to the end of the season. Who knows when Jota is going to be back? Seeing him limping away from Celtic Park yesterday on those crutches and in that moon boot was not good at all. I thought at the time that it looked like one of those injuries whose severity might not be immediately apparent.

That was a very disappointing sight at the end of what was an excellent game and an excellent day. But every crisis is an opportunity, and the opportunity now falls to the big man, and he will have a chance to stake his claim from now until the end of the season.

He should be aiming to get his 30th goal in Celtic colours by the time this campaign wraps up. And I’ll tell you something — that would be a very good return on this guy. It would be a very good start to his Celtic career to be that far in already, to be on 30 goals. If he can make it by the end of this campaign, that puts him on the road to being a really top performer at this club. It will really shut his critics up if he can do that.

And that means it’s an important summer, because the manager will have to make a decision on whether or not he goes out and signs another striker and thus relegates Adam to third choice at the club, or whether he keeps the faith with him and keeps the faith with Maeda, and goes out and brings in more of a back-up player.

We’re very fortunate to have two very good strikers at the club already, and although it never hurts to have another really good striker just to keep the competition level high, I know already what the media will say if we do sign one.

It won’t be “well done, Celtic, for showing ambition” or anything else. It’ll be “what does this mean for Idah? What does it mean for Maeda?”

It was ever thus. As I said at the start, we’re held to a different standard. Not even a higher standard — just a different one. It is pathetic.