DAVID TURNBULL celebrated his first start for Celtic in nine months with two goals in the 4-2 opening-day win over Ross County at Parkhead at the weekend.
Matt O’Riley is not surprised by the impact of his team-mate who claimed the champions’ first goal of the new campaign with a sweetly-taken penalty-kick in the 17th minute.
And Turnbull knocked in his second – and the Hoops’ third goal – just before the interval following a typical Kyogo Furuhashi sweeping flourish as he whipped an effort wide of keeper Ross Laidlaw.
O’Riley set up the Scotland international with a superb run to the byeline on the left before deftly flicking the ball to the back post where his middle-of-the-park colleague pounced to accept the pass.
BY THE LEFT…Matt O’Riley clips over a cross from the byeline.
ON ITS WAY…Ross County keeper Ross Laidlaw flaps helplessly at the expert cross from Matt O’Riley.
PICK IT OUT…David Turnbull is right on cue to knock the ball over the line for Celtic’s third goal.
The former Danish Under-21 star hit the fourth goal when he moved onto a slick pass from Kyogo to blast a right-foot drive beyond the stranded Laidlaw.
But the selfless O’Riley, who had an outstanding match against the Dingwall outfit, preferred to applaud the return of the former Motherwell prospect and said: “I think he can be a big player for us this season.
“People can say what they want, that they don’t care about praise from people.
“But, when it comes from the manager, it’s very important because it shows that he does believe in you and has trust in you. When you know that it frees you up to go on the pitch and express yourself.
“I think we have seen that in the last couple of games. He just has a calmness in his game, he is a very good finisher and gets himself into positions to score. That’s important.
“I’m really happy for him because he didn’t play as much football as he would have liked last season and we know how good he is.”
O’Riley, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “Hopefully, he gets some games under his belt now and starts to build on that.
“He is a major goal threat any time he plays now. Outside the box, he gives us a different element where he is very effective with long range shots, as well.
“We are quite used to playing intricate football into the box and sometimes it’s a good option to have when teams are sitting quite deep.”
