David Turnbull wasn’t surprised Tom Rogic was up to his old tricks against St Mirren – as he’s spent years being dazzled by his magic.
The Australian ace had the Saints under his spell in Wednesday’s 4-0 win in Paisley as his impressive display was capped by a stunning opener.
Rogic pulled the performance out of the hat but for long spells this season the Wizard of Oz has been hiding behind the curtain.
The 28-year-old’s goal was his first in the league since last March, when he netted in the 2-2 draw at Livingston a week before the league’s lockdown.
His only other strike this season was when Celtic raced in to a two-goal lead against AC Milan before losing 4-2 in the Europa League.
The Hoops could have done with more vintage Rogic this season.
He has struggled for fitness the whole campaign with just 12 starts – and only one full 90 minutes – since October and he looked to be on his way out before then when a big money move to Qatar fell through.
It’s not quite happened for Rogic this term but Turnbull has been thrilled with his teammate hitting form in recent weeks.
The former Fir Park kid is just glad he’s now giving the ball to the laid back Aussie instead of trying to get it off him.
Turnbull said: “When I was up against Tom with Motherwell I always felt it was impossible to get the ball off him.
“He’s just so strong, he can hold the ball up and hold you off as well. There’s so many good touches – it’s just hard to get the ball off him.
“It was like that against him but he’s the same in training. He keeps himself to himself but there’s a bit of banter there. He’s such a chilled out guy.
“He’s right up there with the best I’ve played with or against. You see his technical ability when he plays.
“We’ve been playing together recently and hopefully he can continue to show it.
“He looked very sharp the other night, especially in the second half when we all kind of clicked together.
“We all showed our ability but Tom especially.”
Former Celtic assistant boss John Collins also raved about Rogic’s star turn against Saints – but admitted to frustration there’s not been more of it during this ill-fated campaign.
He said: “Tom Rogic getting the ball around about the final third – that’s where you want him in possession.
“We haven’t seen enough of that this season but it was a nice, quality, all-round performance from him.”
Rogic has roared back to form but Turnbull’s own game has been impressive since he burst in to the side.
The 21-year-old hasn’t looked out of place in the Hoops but he knows he faces a fight on a weekly basis to fend off a long list of rivals who are after his jersey.
There’s been room for him and Rogic in recent weeks – but Ryan Christie has been itching on the bench and he came on to score a superb third goal in Paisley.
Turnbull got in on the act as well with the fourth and said: “It’s great to play every game. I just need to keep up the good work to keep my place.
“I need to keep striving to play well in every game to stay in the team.
“There are so many good players fighting for places in similar positions. It means you need to be training well every day as well as playing as well as you can.
“There are boys back from injury so it’s always about taking your chance.”
Celtic made it a hat trick of league wins with victory against the Saints but are still a mammoth 18 points behind Premiership leaders Rangers as the agonising inevitability of surrendering their crown becomes closer by the week.
But Turnbull knows Celts have no choice but to keep plodding on, keep chipping away and keep producing performances for as long as the season is rolling on.
The playmaker said: “That’s three games we’ve won in a row and we’ve got better in each game. Hopefully we can kick on and continue the run.
“We played St Mirren a few weeks ago and it wasn’t a great result. We just went back to work on the training ground and made sure we gave 110 percent in every game.
“We’ve stuck together as a team. The second goal really killed the game the other night and once we got it we played with more confidence. You can then go out and get a few more goals.
“It’s just about fighting until the last game. We’ll keep pushing and sticking together as a team, to make sure we keep getting results like the other night.
“Winning games helps but I’ve loving life here, I’m playing games and enjoying it.”
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