Turnbull in vow to use cap snub as motivation

DAVID TURNBULL will use his disappointment at missing out on the Scotland squad as fuel to prove himself over the rest of the season — starting with tomorrow’s Celtic Park showdown with Rangers. The midfielder has been overlooked by national team boss Steve Clarke for the World Cup qualifiers against Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands. They are the last three competitive fixtures before Scotland head to the delayed Euro 2020 finals, leaving those on the outside with few chances to force their way in. Confessing to being ‘a wee bit’ disappointed at being overlooked, Turnbull said: ‘I wasn’t expecting to be first pick or whatever — but I had my eye on the squad. ‘These things happen, you just need to work around it and keep doing what I’m doing, working hard. ‘It’s a big motivation. I just want to go out and play as well as I can. But it comes down to Steve Clarke, he’s the manager, it’s his decision and I need to respect that. ‘The game this weekend and the remaining games of the season give me a really good platform to show what I can do. I’m just trying to give myself the best opportunity that I can. ‘Steve didn’t speak to me but I got called by someone who works with the national team, who told me Steve wanted to pass on a message. ‘I wouldn’t like to say what the message was. It was good to get a message, at least.’ Turnbull says the entire Celtic squad are motivated to perform at peak levels tomorrow, insisting: ‘We’ll be looking to lay down a marker for next season on Sunday. ‘We go into every game with the same mindset, trying to win. ‘We obviously haven’t done it as often as we should have this season. ‘But starting Sunday, we aim to put down a marker and then, hopefully, take our form from the last few games this season into the new campaign. ‘I wouldn’t say there was huge pressure on us. We know we can perform. ‘It’s just that we haven’t reached the right levels in games this season. ‘We know what those levels are and how important it is to get back to them week in, week out. ‘The last time we played against Rangers, we performed well in the first half. We pressed the ball well and created a lot of chances — but couldn’t take them. Hopefully we’ll put that right at the weekend.’