Liam Scales is convinced Adam Idah can fill the void left by Kyogo and become the main man at Celtic.

The Irishman blasted a sensational double for the Hoops in the thriller with Aston Villa. And while the 4-2 defeat in the end showed there was a gulf in power and class between the sides, the display from Idah suggests the hitman is ready to assume the leading man duties now the Japanese hero has left.

Scales has no doubt the £9m former Norwich striker is up to the task – and it’s now lift off after his Champions League confidence boost. The brace came at the perfect time for the attacker after a run of 15 games without a goal. Even last week, Idah was robbed of a spot on the scoresheet when his powerful run and effort against Young Boys ended up being ruled as an own goal.

Scales believes there’s no looking back now though for his Republic of Ireland teammate. He said: “They were good finishes, the first one especially. It was instinctive and a brilliant finish.

“I’m delighted about it because all he needed was to get the back of the net. He was doing everything else right. He’s still working hard and holding the ball up for us and making them play. It was just about him hitting the back of the net and he’s done that now so I think he’ll kick on.

“Can he be the no.1 striker? Oh yeah, without a doubt. Adam’s a top man and he’s been brilliant since he came here. He’s obviously gone through a little bit of a spell where he’s not scored but that happens to everyone, world class strikers. I think he’s the man to lead us here.”

Adam Idah bags his second to make it 2-2 (Image: Getty Images)

Celtic went down in Birmingham but the hard work was already done going in, with a place in the knockout stages already in the bag. But when the dust settled on a wacky night across the continent, the Hoops were arguably handed the toughest route of the lot.

At one point they were running into the likes of Feyenoord or Brest, then it was AC Milan and even maybe Aston Villa again. But the final whistle two names remains – and it was two of the biggest in European football.

Real Madrid or Bayer Munich now await – and Scales is not fussed which one. The centre back does know Celts are now better equipped for the challenge though. Scales said: “Do I have a preference? No, not really. They’re world class. It’s going to be an amazing experience. We just want to go and do the best we can against both teams.

“We’ve grown loads in these games, We’ve got a lot of good results in there. I think the difference between last season’s Champions League campaign and this season’s has been night and day. We’ve been a lot better, we’ve been a lot stronger defensively. We’re creating chances and scoring goals and we’re being really competitive in all the games so it’s been a really positive one for us.

“We’re really happy to have a play off and to get out of the league phase. It’s a massive achievement so we’re delighted.”

Villa Park was a wild ride, mind you. Celtic were two down inside five minutes and in danger of another Champions League bloodbath. But this time they battled back and even though Villa went through the gears in the second period, the Hoops refused to buckle.

Scales said: “Yeah, it was frantic. I think we had a slow start. They came out of the block really fast and the first two attempts they got two goals. But I think we showed really good character to get ourselves back in the game.

“I think, again, they started the half a bit better than us in the second half. I think you sort of go up the levels and play against really good teams you don’t really get away with it. So that’s the way it went. But we did show really good character to get back into the game and we can take positives from that.

“I think we kept doing what we planned to do. We had planned to sort of match them up, man for man across the pitch. That didn’t change. Obviously, it’s disappointing to go behind like that. It gives you a massive uphill battle. But we just kept doing what we usually do. It worked for us, but at the end of the day, it was just a little bit too much.”

Liam Scales at Villa Park (Image: SNS Group)

It was a tough night but there was a lot to take from it. Scales said: “It’s never going to be easy at this level. But it does give us confidence because we know if we play well and we do what we plan to do, we can give any team problems. So that gives us confidence.

“We just need to sort of tidy up in areas and maybe just start halves a little bit better. I think that will help us.”

Celtic also have other help on the way – with Portuguese superstar Jota making a dramatic return in time for the next Champions League adventure. Scales said: “It’s great to have him back.

“I think he’s eligible to play in the next games. So it’s great to have him back. He’s a quality player. I think everyone’s seen the quality he had last time he was here and hopefully he can just slot right back in and do well for us.”

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