Goal tally gives Turnbull something to build on

DAVID TURNBULL left it late but he finally edged his goal tally into double figures on the final day of the Premiership season.

Without the three-month long hamstring injury sustained in the League Cup final, Turnbull’s 10-goal haul would doubtless have been greater but this season’s problems were minor next to the knee surgery that prevented him moving to Celtic as originally intended three years ago.

Turnbull learned a lot about contextualising his emotions during that lay-off and his powers of recovery were rewarded when Neil Lennon returned with a renewed £3million offer to Motherwell in the summer of 2020.

Having banked his first league winner’s medal as a Celtic player, the 22-year-old views the season as a resounding success, even if he missed some of the team’s defining matchdays under Ange Postecoglou.

‘Before the injury, I think I’d played 40 or 50 games in a row, so if I did that every season it would be brilliant,’ smiles Turnbull. ‘I don’t feel it has held me back too much and I don’t feel it will next season.’

Five months on from his last strike against Real Betis in the Europa League, Turnbull prodded home a precise finish against Motherwell.

He said: ‘When the ball came to me I knew what I was going to do. It’s been a few years since I played for Motherwell. The way they treated me was brilliant but I’m a Celtic player now.’