My old man gave me a clip round the ear for my stupid comments. I deserved it!

FLYING in front of Guilherme with arms, gangling legs and beard everywhere, Oli McBurnie created sufficient distraction to trigger the goalkeeping flap which fell in favour of John McGinn. The events leading up to Scotland stealing in front against Russia on Friday couldn’t have been far off one of the visions the striker drew up when thinking how best to create an awkward moment.

Unfortunately for the £20million Sheffield United striker, there had been many others in the days leading up to that wonderfully unwieldy intervention. And all of them had made him feel absolutely dreadful.

There was the mortifying instant 10 days earlier when he discovered that his private joke with John Fleck trashing Scotland duty before a game against Blackburn had gone viral. Then the discomfort of an angry reaction from the Tartan Army as the online abuse poured in.

Followed by fielding the fury of proud dad Neil, who had travelled the world watching his son represent Scotland from Under-17 level and all the way to Peru and Mexico with the senior squad.

Inevitably, there was the moment when McBurnie was required to steel himself to call Steve Clarke’s number and muster an explanation. The new manager had just handed him a recall after missing the June internationals through injury.

Finally, last Monday at the team camp in Edinburgh, the 23-year-old stood in front of his international colleagues and coaching staff to apologise for the comments and state his utter commitment to Scotland.

At last, there was relief. And a line could be drawn through the debacle. But just to underscore that message, McBurnie was content to front up after earning his eighth cap in the 2-1 defeat to the Russians.

The truth is there is no squad member more passionate about pulling on the dark blue shirt than McBurnie. He also explains how the words caught on camera were part of the banter he was sharing with Fleck, who hadn’t been called up.

And, yes, it was folly of Sheffield United’s media team to put out the footage on social media and place their record signing in the eye of a storm.

However, ultimately, McBurnie boldly admits that the blame lies entirely with himself for being so daft as to even in jest open his mouth and flippantly, unintentionally, demean the honour of being called up by Scotland.

‘My old man was raging, the family were angry with me, asking why I was saying that,’ he recalls of the aftermath of discovering what was ‘out there’. ‘I played a lot of games for the Under-21s and Under19s. I wouldn’t have done all that if I didn’t consider myself a proud Scotsman.

‘My old man came to every game — home and away. So he gave me a clip round the ear. The family know I love being up here and so do the boys in the squad. It was tougher to explain to the gaffer. Because he doesn’t know me.

‘As soon as it came out, I rang him and gave him my point of view. We had one conversation and that was it cleared. I wanted to clear it up with the manager quickly. I didn’t want that to be the first impression he had of me.

‘We got it dealt with and we’ll put it behind us. He’ll have seen that I was trying to prove a point last week in training, to show how much I want to be here. Then I ran myself into the ground on Friday night.’

Before leading the forward line and resuming his international career, Yorkshire-born McBurnie had to be front and centre — and answerable to his team-mates. He addressed the issue in a clear-the-air meeting.

‘I wanted to make that gesture,’ confirmed McBurnie. ‘I don’t want people thinking that coming up here for Scotland is a chore or I don’t want to do it. If it was, I wouldn’t come. I was relieved to meet up with the boys. I put across my side of the story and it was a big relief the way they accepted it.

‘It was a relief not to get a negative reaction from the crowd on Friday, too. I put myself out there to be shot at but I understand that comes with the territory. The fans gave me a great reception and I was thankful for that.

‘I want to make an impression now to show what I can do for the country. Every time I go on the pitch for Scotland I want to give everything and score goals anyway. If I keep working hard, hopefully the goals will come.’

McBurnie is fully engaged in and active on social media, embracing the era of sharing personal opinions and experiences in your life with people you’ve never met — including a multitude who would gladly wish you ill fortune.

The controversy is a jarring reminder that not even what a player now says to a team-mate in the confines of his own club may be considered sacrosanct. ‘The whole episode has been a shock to me,’ said McBurnie. ‘I’d played a game, I came off and people were sending me this video. That’s not what I wanted to see — or the impression I want people to have of myself. It was a video that Sheffield United’s media team put out. In the clip there’s that five-second bit. Who needs enemies, eh? They apologised but the damage was already done. I’ve had to suffer the repercussions.’

McBurnie already had enough on his plate early in the season justifying the investment in him made by Chris Wilder and Premier League newcomers United. The £20m outlay on the back of a 22-goal Championship campaign for Swansea was ridiculed in many quarters but the signs of

settling in with the Blades have been encouraging.

He’s off the mark in the top flight thanks to a goal against Leicester and has helped his new club to a win over Crystal Palace and draws at Chelsea and Bournemouth.

In a tireless shift against Russia, he was isolated for long spells and forced to field long deliveries while under the closest attention from defenders of a visiting team that was well on top of matters.

McBurnie insisted: ‘I don’t feel extra pressure coming to play for Scotland because of my transfer fee. The fee doesn’t help you on the pitch. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve gone for. We know about the prices down south, it’s extortionate.

‘I had a good season last year so Sheffield United put the money in to get me. I can’t look into it too much, my job is to score goals and that hasn’t changed. It was a tough shift. It was frustrating but it’s hard playing against three centre-halves.

‘I was feeding off scraps and it’s the graveyard shift. I’m a bit of an old-school striker, I try to get in defenders’ faces.

‘For our first goal I caused a bit of hassle from Ryan Fraser’s cross. The keeper dropped it and McGinn got his first goal. It was a great start — and that’s what makes the result so frustrating.’