OLI WORKS TO IMPRESS
HIS glut of goals at club level have impressed Swansea gaffer Paul Clement.
But Oli McBurnie admits with Scotland Under-21s it might have to be his graft that catches the eye.
The big striker has scored in every game he’s played for the Swans’ Under-23 side this term, including a hat-trick against Chelsea.
That has propelled him into Clement’s first-team squad and he led the line against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup recently.
McBurnie was the focal point of his country’s attack in Euro 2019 qualifiers against Latvia and Ukraine this week – but was starved of quality service.
In Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat to the Ukrainians in particular, he ploughed a lone furrow up front and fed off scraps.
But the Swansea hitman insists he’ll keep battling away for Scot Gemmill’s side in the campaign in the hope of making the full squad.
McBurnie said: “Every time I’ve come up in front of the gaffer I’ve impressed.
“I think he knows he can trust me now where before he probably wasn’t sure. He is bringing me on now to try to change games in the Premier League and that’s all I can ask for.
“He started me against Man United in the cup and in our last two Premier League games against Arsenal and Brighton I came off the bench.
“So I’m in the fold and after my loan move to Barnsley fell through in the summer I’ve worked my way back into the gaffer’s plans.
“With Scotland the last two games were tough. Of course Tuesday night was frustrating for me. I felt a bit isolated up front at times – but sometimes as a striker you’ve got to do that job.
“You’ve got to put the team before yourself and do the running.
“Obviously you want to be getting shots on goal and stuff like that. But against Ukraine it was a game where we just had to dig in.
“It’s hard up front on your own. The spells without the ball were longer than I would have liked but it’s all about the team.
“You hope a chance will fall for you but it didn’t.”