Motherwell: David Turnbull will be back at 'top of his game', says Stephen Robinson
- Published
Turnbull scored 15 times for Motherwell last season to attract bids from Celtic and Norwich City
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson is confident David Turnbull will be back "at the top of his game" after a successful knee operation.
The midfielder, 20, has undergone preventative surgery to fix the slight tear that had gone unnoticed until his Celtic medical last month.
That caused the collapse of a proposed £3.25m move but he could return to Motherwell action this year.
"I said to him, 'imagine how good you are going to be now'," Robinson said.
"He is on the road to recovery. 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.
"We are confident we will get a very good player back again. You don't lose your ability. 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."
Turnbull's injury comes on top of the departures of Jake Hastie, Curtis Main, Gboly Ariyibi and Alex Gorrin, who were all regular starters in Motherwell's midfield and forward areas after Christmas.
But Robinson has brought in nine players, with winger Christian Ilic the latest recruit.
"We lost all our wide players so that was the biggest recruitment for us, and I believe we have done that well," Robinson added before Saturday's Scottish League Cup opener away to Queen of the South.
"From Christmas onwards we were third in the form table. We have brought in players who will take us on another step."