DAVID Turnbull has not felt in the slightest bit daunted about being on the same pitch as the likes of Toni Kroos, Luca Modric, Eden Hazard, Christopher Nkunku and Timo Werner as Celtic have returned to the Champions League this season.
The Parkhead club’s results against Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig in Group F may have been disappointing; they have picked up just one point from their opening four games and are no longer able to make it through to the last 16.
However, their performances against their Spanish, Ukrainian and German rivals have impressed onlookers and Turnbull and his team mates have shown they are more than comfortable rubbing shoulders with the cream of the continent.
The playmaker, though, readily admits that sharing a dressing room with Stevie Hammell after he first broke into the Motherwell set-up as a teenager was an intimidating experience.
He was drafted into the Fir Park first team squad just as the left back was nearing the end of his long career and was firmly established as a club great. So was Hammell like the Modric of Motherwell?
“Maybe back at that time he was, yeah,” said Turnbull with a grin as he looked ahead to the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against his former club on Wednesday night. “When I was really young, yeah, I probably was a bit starstruck.”
The 23-year-old is indebted to the former Scotland internationalist for the help and encouragement which he received when he was starting out as a professional footballer.
He was pleased when Hammell was named as Graham Alexander’s successor back in August and has been unsurprised to see him give youngsters their chance and lead his side to cinch Premiership wins over St Mirren, Aberdeen Livingston and Ross County since.
“He was great as a team mate,” said Turnbull. “I think I was there about a season and a half with him as a player. He was an experienced guy who was going into the coaching side of things when I was there and you could tell he was going to be a good manager.
“He would always talk to me in games. When I was even younger too, he used to give me wee tips and stuff. He was good to work with. He has done well so far and fair play to him.
“As we have seen over the last few years, Motherwell bring through lots of young players. That is what the club is all about, doing their own thing and it is nice to see. It is always good to see teams playing in their own style. Sometimes it is tough coming up against teams just sitting in.”
Celtic have persisted with their attacking brand of football against Real, Shakhtar and Leipzig and created numerous chances up front as a result. But they have scored only twice and have paid the price for their profligacy in front of goal.
Turnbull himself has netted just once in the 2022/23 campaign – he capitalised on a mistake by goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin in a 4-0 triumph over Rangers at Parkhead at the start of last month – and knows that he and his fellow forwards need to sharpen up in the final third both domestically and abroad.
Yet, he feels that being involved in the Champions League group stages will be beneficial for all of the Celtic players and result in improvements in their play in future.
“It was a tough one to take on Tuesday night (Celtic lost 2-0 at home to Leipzig),” he said. “I thought the boys played really well and created plenty of chances. But at this level it is about taking them. It wasn’t to be, but we will take positives from it.
“As you saw, they were more clinical towards the end, but we created plenty in the first half and there were a few once I came on, before they scored, so it is about taking them. If we had, I think there would have been a different outcome.
“It is great to come up against players like Modric. Some of them are ones you watched growing up and it is great to see their quality and the way they carry themselves on the pitch. If you can take wee bits of their game it would help a lot.”
Turnbull, who has been sidelined with tonsilitis and an ankle injury in recent weeks and who sat out yesterday’s Premiership match against Hibernian, has found producing his best form difficult this season.
But he is hoping to get fully fit again soon and enjoy an extended run in Ange Postecoglou’s side before the Qatar 2022 finals get underway next month.
“It has been tough for me,” he said. “But I have had nothing too serious and hopefully I can play a lot more minutes for the team. It is just the way football is I think. That is the way it goes, you get wee knocks and it is about dealing with them.
“It is going to be a game every three days. It is good to see there are so many as I try to make my way in the team. When I do get the chance I will just try and play as best I can.
“I just want to give 100% every time I am on the pitch. That is what I do and will continue to do. I have been unlucky recently, I have not had a good time of it with a sore ankle and stuff. But no excuses, it is about coming back and being even better. Trying to help the team out with goals and assists every week.
“It would be good to play against Motherwell. It is a big game for us. We know what we are coming up against because it was a good game against Motherwell the other week there. I am going back to Fir Park, but it is about us progressing in the cup and getting the result we need.”
