This time last year David Turnbull was waiting to discover if his rehab had been successful after his Celtic medical had revealed the need for knee surgery.
The midfielder was diligent, didn’t rush anything or try to prove a point as he stuck to his plan, making two appearances before Lockdown struck.
Turnbull’s early season form brought Celtic back to the table, since getting his chance in December he hasn’t looked back and is probably a strong contender for Celtic’s Player of the Season Award.
On Saturday Allan Campbell was up against his old team-mate for 80 minutes with the impact obvious, when Turnbull and Greg Taylor were substituted Celtic’s performance notably weakened.
It isn’t easy forcing your way into the Celtic midfield but over the last month Turnbull has regularly edged out Scott Brown, Tom Rogic and Olivier Ntcham with Campbell not surprised by the impact of the 21-year-old.
Campbell told The Sun:
David Turnbull is a top player, a hard-working player, who’s gone to Celtic and had a real impact on the team. That wasn’t a surprise to anybody at Fir Park.
At a club like Motherwell, they take young players and give them a platform to perform. If you do well there’s every chance a big club could come in for you.
David’s a great example of that — he’s playing at a top club now, and he’s somebody all our young players can really look up to. It was obviously a bit strange playing against him, but when you get on the football park you’re not pals, you’re rivals.
So far this season Turnbull has started 15 Celtic matches- 13 in the SPFL plus one in the Scottish Cup and Europa League.
