Allan Campbell: Motherwell ace says it's great to be back alongside fellow goal hero David Turnbull

Motherwell's Scotland under-21 international duo David Turnbull and Allan Campbell both netted in Wednesday night's action packed 2-2 home Scottish Premiership draw against Livingston at Fir Park.
Allan Campbell (right) takes the congratulations of Jordan White after putting Motherwell 2-1 up against Livingston (Pic courtesy of Ian McFadyen)Allan Campbell (right) takes the congratulations of Jordan White after putting Motherwell 2-1 up against Livingston (Pic courtesy of Ian McFadyen)
Allan Campbell (right) takes the congratulations of Jordan White after putting Motherwell 2-1 up against Livingston (Pic courtesy of Ian McFadyen)

And Campbell (22) told the Times and Speaker he is delighted to be back playing alongside his midfield mate - who spent most of last season out injured - although he admits it's strange playing in front of no fans due to coronavirus safety guidelines.

"Definitely David is getting back to his best," Campbell said.

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"He has been brilliant since he came back. He's come back in good shape and it's good to have him back alongside me.

"I've not played with him in ages so it was great to have him back on the park and scoring goals. Hopefully he can keep kicking on and doing well.

"Playing in front of no fans is not the same. It's a bit weird as a player but the way I think about it is we had a couple of months not playing football at all.

"Back then I would have done anything to play a game of football so that's what everybody's attitude is now.

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"We just want to play football and hopefully the fans can get back in sooner rather than later."

Wednesday's game saw Motherwell pick up their first league point of the season and they are eighth after three matches. Turnbull shot them ahead in the first half before Livi quickly equalised with a Lyndon Dykes penalty after Ricki Lamie's handball.

Campbell put the Steelmen 2-1 in front by converting a Long pass but Livi earned a deserved point when Alan Forrest tapped in after Craig Sibbald's initial shot had been parried out by 'Well keeper Trevor Carson.

"It was a bit of a frustrating game," Campbell said. "Livi make it hard and put a lot of long balls in behind the defence. They are a good team and they've got Dykes up front who wins a lot of headers.

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"To be fair the boys put in a different type of performance today. It was more that we dug in as a team, fought for every first ball and tried to fight for every second ball.

"It's a point. We didn't get beat so we can keep our heads held high and be ready for Saturday now.

"I always try and make to look runs in behind and get a couple of goals and I'm glad I chipped in tonight. I will keep my head down, keep working hard and hopefully get a couple more goals to get us back to winning ways.

"We've obviously not got goals in the first two games. So we needed to get on the scoresheet tonight.

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"We were just trying to get balls into the box, pick out runners and we showed that tonight. We just need to keep carrying that on and get a wee run going."

Monday's Europa League first qualifying round draw saw Motherwell paired with either Northern Irish outfit Glentoran or Faroese side HB Torshavn in a one off tie at Fir Park on Thursday, August 27.

Campbell is relishing that prospect, although he stressed that his immediate priority is getting three points in the Steelmen's next league match against second placed Hibs at Easter Road this Saturday.

He added: "It's obviously exciting because it's the first time I've ever played in that (the Europa League). But I'm not even thinking about that just now.

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"The boys in there are just focused on Saturday, just preparing well, make sure we recover, train on Thursday (today) and make sure we're ready to go out there on Saturday, put in a good performance and get a win.

"It will be a good challenge but we back ourselves, we're a good team. The first two results didn't go our way but we dug deep tonight in a different type of game.

"We'll be confident going into the game. We'll be organised and set up well so we'll be all right."

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