ADAM IDAH has been told it’s not easy being green with his role as a striker for Ireland more demanding than it is as Celtic.
In Friday night’s friendly against Senegal, the Cork striker made his first start for his country since the opening match of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s reign, against England last September.
Doubts over Evan Ferguson’s ability to ast 90 minutes- plus Idah’s winner off the bench against Bulgaria in March – helped convince the Icelander to ask him to lead the line.
Although he did not get a sniff of goal – berating scorer Kasey McAteer for failing to find him with a cross in the first half – Hallgrímsson was pleased with his efforts.
And he reckons the penny has dropped that his duties for Ireland are far more onerous than they are for Celtic, for whom he scored 20 times in all competitions this season.
Asked how Ferguson was looking after a hugely-disappointing club campaign, Hallgrímsson said: “Really good, we were even thinking of starting him.
“He’s been sharp in training and I think you saw when he came on he was sharp. We’ve been really happy with him in the sessions.
“Whether he was ready for 90 minutes, we were not sure and Adam deserved to start.
“And he did a solid performance, his workrate was I thought better than often before.”
Hallgrímsson insisted that he had never had cause to question Idah’s willingness to work but reckoned the former Norwich City just had to come to terms with the differing demands for club and country.
Hallgrímsson said: “No, I saw he took the job seriously on Friday.
“It’s not been an issue but I think in his club it’s just so different a role it’s difficult to switch.
“Because we need a lot of defending from our strikers and he’s just not used to it at Celtic when they have their possession at say 60/70/80 percent in games.
“So the space he needs to work on in games is small. It’s a switch and hopefully players are learning more and more and he is growing. He knows what we expect so that’s a positive sign.”
But he could be dropped for Tuesday’s match against Luxembourg Troy Parrott – who was ill last week – and Ferguson vying to start.
Hallgrímsson said: “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.”
