Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson has told David Turnbull to imagine how good he will be now he has rectified the problem that scuppered a move to Celtic.
A £3milllion move collapsed last month when a scan discovered a slight tear in the knee area that could have gone unnoticed throughout Turnbull’s career, or could have developed into a far more serious problem.
“He is on the road to recovery,” Robinson said.
“It was a big surprise to everybody. We thought we had lost a top footballer. We had to get the operation done, his health is more important than anything, and we are confident we will get a very good player back again.
“And hopefully we will get the true value out of him on the pitch for Motherwell and the true value of what we believe he is worth in a few months time.
“It was more a preventative operation, it’s been a massive success, and David will be back. You don’t lose your ability.
“I said to him: ‘Imagine how good you are going to be now’.
“I’m very confident David will be back playing at the top of his game.”
Robinson said: “I didn’t have a whole lot to do with it. When bids were accepted I spoke to David, and David’s not a man of many words so he didn’t say too much.
“He is quite cool and composed, he has a good family behind him, he’s got a lot of support from staff here.
“It’s a difficult one for the boy, he has dealt with it and he will deal with it and will continue to get our support.”
“We lost all our wide players so that was the biggest recruitment for us, and I believe we have done that well,” he said ahead of Saturday’s Betfred Cup opener away to Queen of the South.
“We look back from Christmas onwards and we were third in the form table. It doesn’t count for anything, tables don’t start in January.
“But we had a lot of pace and energy out wide and played a lot of good football, created a lot of chances and were good to watch.
“We have continued to do that and bring in players who will complement what we did last season and take us on another step.”
