Partick Thistle new boy Jordan Turnbull is hoping to use the experience he gained training alongside Southampton stars such as Virgil Van Dijk to be smash hit in Scotland.

Turnbull played alongside the former Celtic centre-half in pre-season friendlies, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jose Fonte and Adam Lallana during his time at St Mary’s.

That stood him in good stead when he was loaned to Swindon Town for two seasons, but his career stuttered somewhat after joining Coventry City last summer.

He has put that experience behind him now though, and he wants to show the form for Thistle that earned him a place in one of England’s most prestigious academies.

“I trained with [Van Dijk] a lot, and in pre-season I played some games with ‘Virge',” Turnbull said. “He’s grown into an absolutely fantastic player and he’s a man-mountain.

“He’s definitely someone that you aspire to be like. He made that change from Scottish football to the Premier League and it has suited him, and he’s doing really well.

“Last season he was just immense, and he deserves all the praise he gets. Whatever happens with him this season, I’m sure he’s going to be a fantastic player.

“I joined Southampton when I was 11 years old and left last summer, so I spent a significant amount of time there. I learned a lot as a player.

“They pride themselves on their academy and bringing players through, and I was lucky enough to go on loan too to enjoy my football elsewhere. It was a great time.

“I learned a lot from the older players such as Fonte and Lallana, and when you get to train with those sorts of players then you’re always going to develop. The coaches that the first-team brought in too were just fantastic.

“The first-team players at Southampton are always helpful with the younger lads when they’re stepping up, and they take the time to help you.

“It really helped me in my development, and that’s helped me to get to where I am today.”

Turnbull is excited by the prospect of being at Firhill, and is relishing the prospect of emulating the man he is replacing by starring in the club’s backline.

While he admits that earning a similar move to Lindsay eventually by using the platform that Thistle provides would be appealing, his initial goal is to make the Jags fans forget about their former hero.

“Liam has obviously done fantastic here last season,” he said. “I know he was a great player for Thistle and he got a great move for himself.

“But there are a lot of players leaving England to come to Scotland, and the standard of football is getting better and better every year.

“There’s a lot of big games in the Scottish Premiership, so I was excited to come up here and play football in a growing side and a growing team.

“The manager talked me through the football club, how they like to play and told me about playing in big games against big teams like Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Aberdeen.

“It was really encouraging the way he spoke about myself too, so I’m really excited to get going now I’m here.

“At the moment, I’m just focusing on coming here and doing my best and seeing where that takes me.

“[The platform] is a massive selling point of this football club, but my focus is to come up here and do my bit for Partick Thistle as best I can and enjoy my football.”

Turnbull hopes to show enough in training this week to earn a start against Hibs on Saturday, having completed a full pre-season with Coventry.

“I think I’ll take that in my stride and I relish it,” he said. “As a young player, I’ve played quite a few games now already.

“There’s some massive games here and I’m really looking forward to playing in front of big crowds and helping the team do as best we can, and aim for that top six again.”