David Turnbull made a huge impact on his European debut for Celtic, scoring the winning goal in the 3-2 win against Lille on Thursday night, and now the Hoops midfielder is focusing on continuing to impress in training in the hope of more opportunities.

Celtic’s final game in the group stages of this year’s instalment of the Europa League saw the Scottish champions up against a Lille side who had only lost one game in all competitions this season. Celtic were held to a 2-2 in France in the first meeting with Lille, and Neil Lennon’s side came into determined to end their European campaign for the season on a high note with a win over the Ligue 1 outfit.

The Celtic manager made numerous changes to the starting XI with a view to keeping the team fresh for Sunday’s league game against Kilmarnock at Paradise, and to give some other members of the team some playing time.

That meant Turnbull was given his first European start in the Hoops and the 21-year-old seized the opportunity with an excellent performance in midfield which he capped off with the winning goal. Turnbull was delighted with the outcome of the game and credited the rest of the team for the impressive performance. He said:

'It was a great night to make my first start in Europe and a great result to top it off. It’s what you live for, these moments in football and I’m glad I was able to take my chance.'

"It feels amazing to score and play a part in the other goal, it’s amazing to help the boys out and help the club out and I’m sure we’ll kick on from here. I’m proud of all the boys, they were brilliant and I’m absolutely delighted. We played very well as a team. Everyone performed well and we stuck by each other and got the result.

“It means everything to me and my family. I was delighted to get the call to start and I Just wanted to play as well as I could. To top it off with a goal was amazing."

With competition for places in the team so high, Turnbull has had to bide his time since arriving from Motherwell late in the summer. He understood the challenge in trying to nail down a regular starting place but vowed to continue making a case each day in training.

“It’s been tough being on the bench," he said, "but you need to work hard every day, give your all in training and whenever you come on do your best. You need to trust the process, bide your time and your chance will come.

“I obviously want to play every game and I train every day to show that I want to play,” he said. “It’s up to the gaffer, I trust his decision and we’ll see what happens.

David Turnbull hungry for more after impressive European debut