“He wastes some of his energy”; Petrov has strong advice for Celtic midfielder

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Former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov has good advice for one of Ange Postecoglou’s current crop of creative talents – David Turnbull.

Petrov in his peak years at Celtic was an exceptional midfielder who not only had strong defensive discipline but that ambition to support attackers in the box. He had back-to-back seasons of scoring double figures for the club.

Turnbull likes to make his impact at the opposition end of the pitch too and has six goals to his name in all competitions so far this term.

However, Petrov thinks he can still get better and has some advice for the 22-year-old.

Speaking to The Celtic Way, he said: “At times I think he wastes some of his energy in areas that he doesn’t need to be but that is something that comes with experience.

“He has a bit of experience around him in Callum and it is important that he listens to that. If he pays attention to what people are advising him to do then he has the capability of becoming a real goal-scoring midfielder.

“Having that within the team can be so important because it alleviates the pressure on the forward players and it also means there are other areas where you know the goals can come from.”

Turnbull isn’t yet the complete midfielder by any means. Certainly at times this season he’s looked like he is still very much getting used to the Ange Postecoglou philosophy.

However, his knack for big contributions is impressive, such as his delightful cross for Kyogo Furuhashi’s goal last week or his hat-trick against St Mirren.

Hopefully he can, like Petrov wants, absorb the best traits of his teammates and continue to grow and learn within this Celtic squad. He’s not far away from being a top player at the Bhoys, but could still do with rounding out his bad midfield habits.

In other news, Video: Celtic star Callum McGregor’s class media interview after Scotland bedlam.