It all sounded a bit disingenuous but David Turnbull’s claim that he didn’t know Rangers had dropped points at St Mirren before he took the field against Ross County will be taken at face value.
Incredulous? The Celtic midfielder also insists he’s not even been keeping tabs on the Premiership table either which is up there on the throwaway catchphrase that footballers don’t read newspapers. Regardless of the reality of either matter, there was no doubting the veracity of his belief that he’s part of a side with its foot on the pedal in a title race which has them accelerating out of sight with a nine point lead over Rangers.
With a five weeks break for the World Cup now beginning, Turnbull fired an ominous warning that the champions intend to resume after Qatar 2022 stronger than ever. He said: “We don’t look at the table, we go into each game focusing on us and trying to get the three points. We don’t focus on anyone else, or their results, it is about what we do.
"We are doing brilliantly right now and now we have to keep it going. The gaffer won’t let us take our foot off the gas. We are going to play every game as if it is our last and try to get as many wins as we can. There is plenty of motivation for the boys every week. The league title is a motivation, every game we play we are always ready to go and play our game style. So far it is going well. I didn’t know the Rangers result before the game. By the time we got here and got ready, we focused on our own game. I saw it after the game though.”
A 14th league win from 15 which only has a loss at St Mirren as their only domestic slip this season was to be achieved through a triumph over the adversity of going behind to the Highlanders before fighting back thanks to two goals in the space of six minutes. Turnbull is adamant a few weeks rest and recovery, which will also include a trip to Australia for the Sydney Super Cup can only serve his side well before reloading when the break for the World Cup is over.
He said: “Will we get better after the World Cup break? I think so. Hopefully we will have most of the boys back from injury after it. The break will do us good and then we want to come back firing on all cylinders. We have 14 wins out of 15 in the league which is great. We had one blip at St Mirren which was tough. We knew after that we could have played better but in the other 14 games we have been brilliant. We know every game is different and you will face challenges. We don’t go into any game thinking it will be easy.
“The St Mirren game wasn’t great but we knew if we played the way we can then we wouldn’t have many other results like that. Now we have to kick on and try to keep winning. We have quality all around the squad and we have competition for places everywhere. Whoever the manager has put in in the last few weeks they have been brilliant and it is about trying to continue that when we come back from the break.”
It was Turnbull’s goal which triggered Celtic’s fightback and the Scotland playmaker had a special mention for the role Reo Hatate played as the architect with a jinking run and cross which laid the ball on a plate for him. He said: “I made a run and I thought Reo was going to slip me in, but he then produced a bit of magic and then he found me.
"His wee shimmy was brilliant and it was great play and it was then up to me to keep my composure and finish it off. It was a great goal to get. I haven’t played a lot of Reo but I thought we linked up well. He is a great player and on Saturday he got two assists and he did great. I enjoy playing with him.”
What could prove to be a pivotal weekend in the title race wasn’t lost on Turnbull who insists the win was achieved through character and spirit and all of the ingredients required of champions. He said: “Are those the types of games that win you titles? You need to dig in sometimes. I thought we were in control until the Ross County penalty incident. After that we worked hard and we did that. We created plenty of chances and it was a great result.
"We showed our character again by coming back from the penalty. I haven’t seen it back but I thought it was a bit crazy at the time. After that we showed how good we are and we put our own stamp on the game and we did well.”
Once again it was contentious VAR call which dominated the headlines from a Celtic after Matt O’Riley was punished for a handling offence which Turnbull insists provided the catalyst for claiming the points against County and he believes a combination of the new technology and handball rule interpretation should see a rise in spot-kicks across the country.
He said: “We were playing well without really creating much before the penalty. After that it spurred us on a bit more to get the two goals that we got. I think it might be. I think they will give a penalty whenever it hits a hand and then no one will complain. People still will, but it is hard as players as you need to watch where you put your hands and it is tough, but they are the rules.”
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