Ange Postecoglou believes that Celtic midfielder David Turnbull was in for a “really big season” at Parkhead before his unfortunate injury blow.
Turnbull was taken off against Hibernian in December’s Premier Sports Cup final clash at Hampden. It was later revealed that the former Motherwell man had suffered a hamstring tear that ruled him out of action until this month.
Turnbull made his on-field return in the 4-0 win over Ross County on Saturday, and he did so to a rapturous applause from the Celtic support.
And Ange, whilst grateful to have him back for the rest of the season, believes he was in for a massive campaign if he didn’t get injured.
Speaking via Celtic TV, the Parkhead boss said: “David was really important to us. He played a lot of football. In the end, that’s where the injury got him. We didn’t have a big squad at the start of the year to call upon and he’s one of the ones that carried that load, but he did it magnificently by scoring goals, creating goals, working really hard for the team.
“It’s frustrating for him because I thought he was in for a really big season. He’s had to work hard in rehab which hasn’t been easy to get back. So to have him available is great forus and great for him as well because he’s been a key contributor to our season.
“There’s nothing worse than seeing a player who has offered so much and who has more to offer being unable to contribute. So great to have him back and I’m sure he’ll be key for us in the last bit of the season.”
Ange Postecoglou spot on regarding David Turnbull – can still make big Celtic impact
Turnbull at the moment sits with 9 goals and 7 assists in 35 games [Transfermarkt]. That’s 16 direct goal contributions in those 35 matches and all coming in the first half of the campaign. It’s utterly outrageous stuff from David.
Goodness knows what he would be on for the season had he managed a fully-fit campaign. But Ange hits the nail on the head here, this can’t be a surprise to anyone. Not when you take into consideration just how much he was playing in the first half of the season.
It’s the same with Kyogo. He was also playing constantly and ended up with a long-term injury. Both men have been out for such long stages of the second half of the season due to the fact they were constantly used in the first.
Ange had next to no option of course. If he hadn’t played Turnbull and Kyogo as much, who’s to say we would still have clung on to Rangers’ coattails? It’s just your luck that they both got injured just a game or 2 away from what would’ve been a timely 3-week break.
In any case, Turnbull can still make a major impact. He may have only been eased into things on Saturday, but he has a major role to play here. We have 3 games left against Rangers and some tough matches post-split to tackle. Turnbull is going to be needed, and we can’t have 50% performances either.
It’s great to have him back, and now it’s all about making up for lost time.
In other news, Josip Juranovic revisits Celtic Glasgow derby debut with Croatian media
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