Farke hails superb Idah after hat-trick puts Norwich through
Adam Idah lived up to his pre-match billing as a “natural-born goalscorer” with a delightful hat-trick which breathed a little passion and romance into the FA Cup.
The 18-year-old striker was handed only his third senior appearance, with Teemu Pukki, Dennis Srbeny and Josip Drmic all missing through injury.
Idah took his chance with deadly aplomb, bagging a fine first-half double before completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Todd Cantwell was Norwich’s designated penalty taker, but Idah had the confidence to grab the ball and smash it past Connor Ripley.
Idah had been expected to go out on loan this month in order to gain regular first-team football but, after helping Norwich into the fourth round for the first time in seven years, manager Daniel Farke may now think again.
Cork-born Idah, who has represented the Republic of Ireland from under-16 to under-21 level, joined Norwich as an academy scholar, and he could now feature in the trip to Manchester United on Saturday.
Farke, whose side are bottom of the Premier League, said: “Adam deserves to be in the spotlight today. He got his chance due to a few injuries, but Adam is prepared to deliver at this level. He grabbed his chance with both hands, not just with his goals but the way he held up the ball.
“Adam has a long-term contract here and if we get the feeling it’s necessary to send him out on loan we will do this. We’re in the driving seat and as long as he is scoring goals for us, we won’t want to loan our best players out. There is no rush to make a decision.”
Preston manager Alex Neil, whose priority is a promotion push, made nine changes, while Farke made eight, with Idah the chief beneficiary as he claimed his first senior goals.
Inside the second minute he latched onto Marco Stiepermann’s through ball and drilled a fine right-foot finish past Ripley who, in the 28th minute, allowed a shot from Onel Hernandez to squeeze past him.
Idah took centre stage again 10 minutes later when Ripley’s poor clearance fell straight to him 35 yards from goal and he hit a delightful lobbed effort over the Preston goalkeeper and into the net.
Farke said: “Believe me, I criticise Adam a lot about his weaknesses and where he needs to improve. But it’s also important to give him self-confidence and he has this natural instinct.
“He knows how to score and it’s a gift. But there is still lots of work to do with Adam.”
Norwich led 3-0 at the break but Preston improved markedly in the second half. Billy Bodin headed home in the 48th minute and, after Idah completed his hat-trick from the spot in the 61st minute, the hosts struck again through Josh Harrop late on.
Neil took heart from his side’s second-half display and expressed sympathy for Ripley after his two costly errors, saying: “Goalkeeper is the one position on the pitch where, if he makes one or two mistakes, the whole stadium sees it.
“Connor has not played much and has been desperate to play. The Norwich second goal was offside and the fourth one was as well – both comfortably offside.
“Premier League referees don’t make decisions any more because they have VAR to fall back on – but we didn’t have VAR here today.”