McBurnie so remorseful over footage

OLI McBURNIE last night broke his silence on the storm created by the embarrassing online footage in which he jokingly claimed he did not want to be selected by Scotland.

The £20million man admitted his own stupidity was to blame for the comments which, he stressed, were not his real views and were taken out of context in the clip.

Early last week, the striker addressed the issue with an apology in front of team-mates and SFA staff in a clear-the-air session at the Scotland camp in Edinburgh.

National manager Steve Clarke then handed Sheffield United record signing McBurnie his eighth senior cap in the 2-1 defeat to Russia.

Now looking ahead to leading the line against Belgium tomorrow, a remorseful McBurnie has opened up on the nightmare that unfolded immediately after his club’s game against Blackburn.

‘It has been a tough couple of weeks for me,’ confessed the 23-year-old, who made the ill-advised remarks when bantering with Blades team-mate

John Fleck before the English League Cup match.

‘It was stupid to put myself in that position. It was a private dressing-room conversation — and five seconds of it was taken out of context.

‘No one heard the rest of the conversation. But, nonetheless, it looked terrible — and that was stupid from me.

‘Everyone who knows me knows how much I love playing for Scotland. I have done so since I was a kid.

‘My stupid mouth ran away from me.

‘I shouldn’t have said it, even if it was banter.’

Sheffield United’s club media team apologised to McBurnie for their mistake in broadcasting the comments on their social media platforms.

The former Swansea and Barnsley forward admits the criticism aimed at him in the wake of the video nasty going public caused considerable upset to him and his family.

‘I got down about it because of the backlash,’ he revealed. ‘I could see how bad it looked. The whole episode has been a shock to me.

‘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.

‘When I put myself out there like I do, it’s easy for people to use it as a stick to beat me with.

‘But it’s my own fault. I have to realise where I am, what I can and can’t say. I love playing for Scotland, it was just a stupid thing said in a dressing-room.’