David Turnbull back for Celtic as Ange Postecoglou emphasises his value to team

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has revealed David Turnbull is ready to return from injury and can be an important player as the club chase a domestic treble.

The Scotland international has been sidelined since the League Cup final in December, with a hamstring injury causing him to miss a series of crucial games in domestic football and in Europe.

Turnbull hit nine goals and had seven assists before his lengthy injury absence and his manager is delighted to have him back.

“David Turnbull’s available,” Postecoglou said. “He’s trained for the last ten days.

“He was fantastic for us in the first half of the year and disappointed for him that he’s got a fairly significant injury that’s kept him out for a while.

“He’s worked hard in rehab and I know he’s itching to get back out there. He’s been training well for the last seven to ten days.”

The Australian said that he could have brought the midfielder back for Monday’s Scottish Cup win over Dundee United but decided to be cautious, hoping he can now reap the rewards as Celtic aim to land the league title and add the Scottish Cup to the League Cup they won earlier in the season.

“We’ve been conservative with him and could maybe have thrown him in last week but watching him train he’s ready to go,” he said.

“He’ll be important for us. He’s a quality player, a goal threat, good on set pieces and I think he adds something to our team.”

Postecoglou had further good news for Celtic fans as he said that Jota and Liel Abada are both fit after missing the cup match earlier in the week. James Forrest will miss out on the Premiership match against Ross County but his injury is not serious and he is expected to be back after the international break.

The manager was more wary of making predictions on a return for Kyogo Furuhashi, who is back in training after suffering a hamstring complaint.

“Not sure,” he said. “We’ll just wait and see.

“I said a while back, if you go by timelines Dave (Turnbull) got injured before Kyogo so you can read into that what you like.

“I’m not putting any sort of timeframes on it. He’s working through his rehab and I’m sure he’ll be available soon.”