It has been more than six weeks and 11 appearances since Adam Idah last found the net for Celtic, but manager Brendan Rodgers says he is confident the forward will soon rediscover the form that persuaded the club to shell out £9m to bring him back to Glasgow last summer.

Idah, of course, hasn’t started all of those matches, but he has been in the starting XI for the last three games as Rodgers looks to get the rhythm back into Idah’s game that he feels is crucial to getting the best from him.

The number of goals from elsewhere, particularly from the wings, may mean that Rodgers is relaxed about Idah’s struggles in front of goal at the moment, but he has spelled out to the Republic of Ireland international that sooner or later, he will once again have to start producing the big moments he became known for during his loan spell at the club last season.

“I thought Adam did well at the weekend, yet he didn't get his goal,” Rodgers said.

“I think some players are better in rhythm and playing. But there are certain positions that you have to produce. That's the reality of it.

“But I was really pleased with his contribution. I don't need my striker to score 40 goals a season, I really don't.

“If you look at any of my teams, the goals are always spread out. What I need is the players to be intense, to be aggressive.

“There were some great moments for him at the weekend. Yeah, he didn't get his goal, but he was there, made vital contributions, setting up the game for us, allowing other players to attack the space. He's working very, very hard, Adam.

(Image: Jane Barlow - PA) “I just think it's one of those ones, it will drop for him at some point. But if we're scoring four goals and your striker's not scoring, then you will take that.”

When asked if his lack of goals – he has eight from 29 appearances all told this season – was affecting the forward, Rodgers said: “I don't believe so. I think it's his own self-pride, you want to score goals.

“As a striker, that's why you're there - to create goals, score goals. But for me, as long as I'm seeing the work rate and the intensity and the mentality, then I'm really happy with that. Knowing that the goalscoring burden doesn't go to one player, it has to go to the whole team.

“As long as the team are working well, then that makes me happy. And for him, he's working really well.

“He's been unfortunate. He had one that he saw near post [on Saturday] and had a couple of other wee moments. But the goals will come for him, Adam, he's already shown that he can score goals."

What also cannot be overlooked in Rodgers’ estimation is the physical presence that Idah brings to his side, giving him a different option to the speed and movement of Kyogo Furuhashi when he feels the team requires a focal point up top.

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That can come in particularly useful he feels when Celtic have to travel to difficult away venues as they did at the weekend, and as they will do tomorrow night when the champions make their way to Dens Park.

“Yes, very good [option], I think,” he said.

“He's a player that, like we've seen away at Atalanta, when you have to go in there over the top of pressure, or whether it's a surface...we still always try and play on a difficult surface, but he gives you that possibility. He's a really good reference for the team.

“He can still run in behind and he's good in the box. So having that different type of striker is fantastic for us.

“Like we see with Kyogo at the weekend, his movement for the first goal is…wow. Just the number of runs he makes to make sure he stays onside, just the timing, the cleverness and then obviously the finish.

“So, to have strikers like that that can give you different possibilities is very useful within your squad.”

Whether the successful experiment that was rather forced upon Rodgers at the weekend, pairing Idah and Kyogo due to the absence of Nicolas Kuhn – who is back in the squad for the trip to Dundee - and Daizen Maeda – who will be assessed prior to the game – becomes a more regular feature remains to be seen.

“May do,” he said. “May not.

“It just depends. I normally play with wingers. It's how I have always sort of worked, really. But Kyogo, he rolls inside very well and the shape just morphs into a different structure. But yes, it's something that we can do.

“I think it's having the flexibility. I've never been fixed to one system. I have one style. The style will always be the same and the principles, but the actual system, I've always been flexible with how the teams have played.

“So, this gave us a nice little conundrum with the wingers short. Okay, so how can we make it work? And the players made it work really well.

(Image: PA) “I think that's the beauty of it. It's improvement, that constant improvement and development. That gives you the enthusiasm. ‘Right, okay, so we haven't got that. So how are we going to adapt?’

“My first look is obviously for our younger players. Is there someone young that can come into the position? If there's not, right, okay, we need to shape it slightly differently.

“So, what can that look like? And that there I've done a few times in my career at a few different clubs. You're relying also clearly on the players' intelligence and the football idea that they have.

“But in the main, I thought it worked well for us and that side of it clearly I enjoy.”