Polworth was sacrificed for Turnbull after the opening game of the season but has not had long to wait for Motherwell to bring in their record transfer fee and a place in the team to open up again.

Robinson, whose side travel to Celtic Park on Sunday, said: "We finished third without David last year. Liam Polworth has already shown his quality. I thought his deliveries on Thursday night were absolutely superb. Somebody get on the end of them, please.

"But he has shown he can step in. David is an excellent footballer, he is very, very difficult to replace but Poly has shown that he can step up.

"We have Allan (Campbell), Mark (O'Hara) and Liam Donnelly to come back as well. So I think we're OK in midfield."

Turnbull has been included in Celtic's squad and could make his debut against his former team as Neil Lennon looks for a lift following their Champions League defeat by Ferencvaros.

"Hopefully not," said Robinson when asked about the prospect of facing Turnbull. "Listen, whoever Celtic put on the pitch, they are going to have players of that calibre and match-winners.

"So we know it will be a difficult game, no matter what result they had on Wednesday night, it doesn't matter. They are a top, top side and we have to be right at the top of our game.

"Hopefully Thursday has buoyed a lot of our players. Strikers feed off goals and hopefully that will kick-start a few people into form."