DAVID TURNBULL says that it was hard to stop himself celebrating his wonder strike in Celtic’s win over Motherwell, but he restrained himself out of respect for the club where it all began for him.

The midfielder’s stunning 30-yard strike gave Celtic an unassailable 2-0 lead on his old stomping ground, and helped move Celtic to within four points of Rangers at the top of the table.

But he said it was important for him to acknowledge the role that Motherwell have played in his career.

“Everyone knows what kind of club Motherwell are and how they helped me when I was younger,” Turnbull said. “So I wanted to be respectful.

“I knew beforehand I wouldn’t celebrate because I spoke to my family about it.

“They were asking me what I’d do if I scored a goal and I told them I wouldn’t, I’d just leave it. Obviously I wanted to score but I didn’t want to celebrate too much.

“I felt like doing it because it’s a great feeling every time you score and that was no different, but I’d decided I wasn’t going to do it.

“It was hard to stop myself but I was delighted to put the ball in the top corner anyway. Hopefully I can score more of them in future and will be celebrating them as I want to.

“It was very different coming back here this season with a crowd in. Last year I was on the bench here and there were no supporters here. So ever since the fixtures were announced I was looking forward to coming back.

“It was good to be back here, seeing all the familiar faces from my time here. I will be getting a few messages from my pals later on no doubt, there will be a bit of banter.

“The most important thing today was getting the three points to keep going.”