Adam Idah claims pre-season at Norwich City left him well off the pace to make an early impression at 'big club' Celtic following his initial £8.5m move.

Idah has notched three times in his last two games, sparking a Scottish League Cup comeback against Falkirk and opening his Champions League account in a 5-1 rout of Slovan Bratislava.

The 23-year-old insists there is no comparison in the intensity and demands of featuring for the Bhoys, and a brief off-season stint working with Johannes Hoff Thorup’s squad.

Idah was embroiled in a protracted summer transfer saga, after making it clear he wanted a Parkhead return following a successful loan stint.

The Republic of Ireland international was disciplined for missing a club flight to an Austrian training camp, before City finally sanctioned his exit in a deal that could rise to £9.5m, plus a 15pc sell on clause.

Idah has started only two of Celtic’s first seven games, and admits he is in catch up mode.

“Yeah, 100pc,” he said. “Look, I didn’t do much in pre-season. Before anyone jumps on that, that wasn’t me chucking it or anything, it was just how we trained down at Norwich.

“Obviously it’s not as intense down there as it is here, we’re at big clubs and we want to be on it.

“So yeah, when I first came I was probably a week behind, and now I’m getting the minutes in I’m starting to get goals.

“I feel good now, and I’m probably not far behind. I just need to keep sticking with it and I’ll get there.”

Idah labelled his Champions League goal last week a ‘surreal’ moment.

“When the ball hit the back of the net, it didn’t feel real at the start,” he said, quoted by The Herald. “It was just like another goal and then it hit me as I was off celebrating, and that’s when you saw the knee slide come.

“It was a dream come true. I think everyone that plays football wants to play in the Champions League, and to score on my debut was amazing.

“It was a fantastic night, we’ve got off to a good start in the Champions League and now we just want to keep going.

“I’ve got the confidence in myself now, and obviously to go and do it was amazing. It gives me a big boost to go on and drive forward now and to do these things on the European nights, whether that is at Celtic Park or away.

“We are a good team, we know we can beat anyone and that is the belief we need to have, and to have that confidence about the group that we can go on and do great things.

“I think you can see that from the start of the season and the way that we have started, we have been excellent.

“It’s up to us now to keep that going and not drop the focus, and keep driving forward to aim for bigger things.”