DAVID TURNBULL has paid tribute to Ismaila Soro as he has made an impressive start to his Celtic career.
The Scotland Under-21 international midfielder arrived in a £2.25million deal from Motherwell in the summer, but was slow to make an impact.
However, Turnbull’s recent run in the top side has earned rave notices as well as three goals and the Premiership Player of the Month award for December.
But the youngster is quick to give credit to his Ivorian sidekick and, speaking to the Sunday Mail, insisted: “Since we changed to the diamond formation, it has worked really well for us.
“It’s good playing beside Soro. He’s intelligent and a great tackler. Everybody knows how good he is at winning the ball back and it’s great for me when he does that.
“When he gets it, he’s also very good at feeding it through to myself and the front boys.
“He’s a quiet character. He only speaks a wee bit of English, but he laughs constantly, he’s always got a smile on his face.
“It must be tough for him away from football. He’s a long way from home. He’ll need to find things to keep him occupied away from the training ground, but he comes in every day and enjoys it.
“I came into the team in early December and I’ve just tried not to look back since. I’ve played well, enjoyed my football and, hopefully, I can continue that.
“I want to get more goals and create more chances for the team.
“I knew I would need to bide my time when I signed for Celtic. The job was to train as hard as I could, knowing my chance would come. Any sub appearances I got, I had to impress and if I did I was confident I’d eventually nail down a place in the team.”
Reflecting on the trip to Dubai for warm-weather training, Turnbull added: “When we were away, everyone bonded. It was good for team spirit and helped the boys get to know each other better.
“We worked hard every day, training as hard as we could. There were extra, longer sessions where we worked on things we couldn’t do back here.
“It’s better doing it in the sun, of course, but it was hard work and it will definitely benefit us.
“It’s about going into every game now, playing the best we can and ticking off results.
“We played well in the first-half at Ibrox, dominating the game until the big moment.”
Turnbull and his team-mates will go back into action tomorrow evening in the rearranged Premiership game against Hibs at Parkhead where three points are a must if they are to remaining in the chase for their historic tenth successive title.
