Turnbull keen to show how far he's progressed

Turnbull’s first season of regular first-team football saw him make 52 appearances for the Robins in all competitions, helping them reach the League 1 Play-off final.

Despite defeat to Preston North End at Wembley, Turnbull says the experience he gained on loan at the County Ground was important for his development.

“Obviously I had a great season out on loan last year, but now I’m back at Southampton and I can’t wait to get started on Monday,” Turnbull told the club’s official YouTube channel when speaking at last week’s pre-season testing.

“We got to the play-off final at Wembley and unfortunately it didn’t go our way, but playing the amount of games I did is only going to do me good.

“Some players may never get to play at Wembley and I managed to play there in my first season in professional football. It will only do me well in the future.

“Now I’m back here and fully focused on pushing on and getting a place in the first team. Hopefully I can get some more game time this year.

“I need to show the coach what I have learned and how I’ve progressed as a player over the last season. It will be good for me to get in and around it with the first team and show what I can do.”

After a hectic first season, Turnbull says he was able to enjoy a little bit of time off. But the defender can’t wait to get started again on Monday.

“We had a bit of time off to recharge the batteries. I managed to get away for a little bit,” Turnbull added. “But now I’m back and fully focused on getting fit and ready for the season.

“We had that bit of time off but it was important that we kept our fitness up to come back in pre-season in good shape.

“I played a lot of games last year so I want to try and play just as many this year, hopefully that will be with the first team at Southampton. To do that I need to give everything in pre-season.”