No fans but caffeine shots helped Oli cope
Scotland striker Oli Mcburnie has revealed he was so disillusioned playing behind closed doors last term that he took caffeine injections to pump himself up in the absence of the atmosphere normally generated by fans.
The Sheffield United target man didn’t have that problem last night when he faced former club Swansea City at a packed Liberty Stadium, but he admits that taking part in games in empty stadia got to him – to the extent that he even missed taking stick from opposition supporters .
“One million per cent,” insisted the 25-year-old. “One of the big hindrances for me last season was the fact there was no-one inside the grounds. I was asking for caffeine shots and everything to try and get my adrenaline going. It’s hard to try and explain what a boost the supporters give you.
“Most of the boys in this team, whether it be opposition fans screaming at you or your own ones cheering you on, they’ll tell you what a massive help it is and what a big difference it makes. Do you know what? I’ve even missed getting abused and having things shouted at me whenever we go away.
“Now, when it happens, I’m going to relish everything that’s said.”
Mcburnie scored just seven goals in his first three seasons with United, but he puts that down to the more defensive approach taken by previous manager Chris Wilder, and he expects to hit the net more often under the attack-minded Slavisa Jokanovic.
“I think I’ve sacrificed a lot – it’s something that comes naturally to me, different ways of playing football, though,” he claimed. “Under the old gaffer, I had to play that way, I had to do that but it made sense and I was happy with it, adding a different string to my bow. This gaffer wants to play a different type of football. It’s similar to the way we used to play at Swansea.”
Mcburnie missed out on the Euro 2020 finals this summer through injury and admits not being able to help manager Steve Clarke and his teammates was a sickener.
He said: “That was a real tough one for me because probably one of the proudest things I’ve achieved was qualifying for them,” he admits. “Not being able to get there because of my broken foot. It was tough to take and it took a bit of time to get over.”