As he noted o his twitter account, last night David Turnbull returned to football 34 weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Eight months ago he was on the brink of signing a four year Celtic contract, subject to a medical.
After a lengthy transfer saga the midfielder was poised to join Celtic, the in-house TV interview had been completed with just a medical to undergo.
The 19-year-old appeared fit and healthy but the medical highlighted a knee condition that required surgery, a condition that had gone undetected during a decade at Motherwell.
34 weeks post op
Great feeling being back out there after long hard time, it’s just the start!?????? pic.twitter.com/4VeXoHizz8— David Turnbull (@10DavidTurnbull) February 25, 2020
Celtic and Motherwell were unable to renegotiate a transfer deal leaving Turnbull to return to Fir Park to undergo the operation and rehab.
Last night after 71 minutes he replaced Alan Campbell. Ilkay Durmus scored the winner for St Mirren in the 87th minute to remind Turnbull of the on-pitch pain that comes with football.
Motherwell will monitor the midfielders’ reaction today. Despite a run of eight matches without a win they are in third place in the SPFL with Turnbull in contention for next week’s match at home to Ross County.