David Turnbull reveals Celtic players had training-ground debrief to discuss situation

The heart-to-hearts Celtic players could have held in the past week could have broken them.

David Turnbull hopes a training ground get together for the Celtic squad can point the way to a winning run. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

David Turnbull concedes that Neil Lennon’s squad “all got together in training” to debrief following the avoidable concession of yet another two points as the result of their 2-2 draw at Livingston last midweek. The Celtic midfielder was in no mood to divulge whether the group discussions held over the failings behind their four-game league winless run had resulted in any frank exchanges or heated debates, though. “What happens in training, and whatever happens in the building and behind closed doors, stays with us,” the 21-year-old said sharply.

Turnbull has been Celtic’s diamond in the rough over the past two months as Rangers have stretched away in the Premiership to establish an unassailable 23-point lead - albeit Lennon’s men have played three games fewer. He doesn’t deny that a five-goal return, coupled with three assists, in the 10 outings since he cemented his place in the side on earning a first concerted run since his £3.5m summer move from Motherwell hasn’t made this torturous time for the club a little more palatable for him. Not that he will see an improvement in performance levels - if not always outcomes - as down to his emergence when the pressure was really on.

“It’s been good, personally, scoring goals and getting assists and playing well,” Turnbull said, ahead of the home meeting with Hamilton. “I just want to keep trying to do that and producing for the team and the club. Hopefully we’ll start picking up the wins and try and go on a run.

“When I came in, we won our first game [3-2 against Lille] and we went on a run from there. So, it wasn’t really when I came in, it was actually a good spell that followed. We were playing well and scoring a lot of goals and I just want us to get back to that. There’s pressure on you every game at a big club like this. It’s just about how you deal with that. But it’s what you want to do as a footballer, that there’s always pressure on you to deliver. You want to overcome it and that’s what I feel I’ve done.”

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