johnreid 
Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Sport
There was potentially bad news on the injury front for Celtic recently, when it was reported by The Scottish Sun that David Turnbull could be out for up to two months with a hamstring injury.
The former Motherwell man limped off injured in the Premier Sports Cup Final win over Hibernian earlier this month, and has not played for the Hoops since.
If Turnbull is out of action for at least two months, he will miss some big games for the club, in particular the Glasgow derby against Rangers in February.
Should the player be missing for any length of time, it will be a real blow to the player and the club, as Turnbull has been a key man for the Bhoys since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou at the club.
Indeed, the statistics show just how important a player that Turnbull has been for Celtic in season 2021/22.
According to Transfermarkt, Turnbull has made the most first-team appearances for the Hoops so far this season, with 34 games played. He has also played the most minutes for the side, with 2,840.
The number of goals he has scored this season – nine, is the third highest for the club this season, behind Kyogo and Liel Abada.
Those numbers show just how much that Turnbull has been integral to Celtic this season, and he will be missed during his absence.
It will be up to the other players in the squad to step up and make sure that Turnbull’s goals in particular from midfield are replaced.
In Turnbull’s absence Nir Bitton has featured for the Hoops in midfield, but he is more of a holding midfielder, despite his recent goal against St Johnstone.
Perhaps Tom Rogic can be the player that can contribute goals in the way that Turnbull has. So far this season he has scored three goals, and if he takes more efforts on goal in the second-half of the season he could well add to that number.
The fact that there doesn’t seem to be a natural replacement for Turnbull in the Celtic squad at the moment shows that he will be difficult to replace during the period that he is out of action.
Celtic will just need to get on with things, like the club has with the rest of the injuries that the squad has picked up in the last few months.
Hopefully Turnbull returns quicker than expected, as he has turned into one of the club’s most important players.
