The much-anticipated arrival of the Scotland international was confirmed in midweek
New Hull City striker Oliver McBurnie has declared himself ready for the start of the new Championship season and says he’s available for selection at Coventry City.
McBurnie’s long-awaited arrival at City was confirmed on Wednesday night, and he trained with his Tigers teammates on Thursday ahead of the trip to the CBS Arena.
It’s likely the 29-year-old former Sheffield United promotion-winner will start on City‘s bench in the Midlands against a side backed to be one of the promotion favourites, having missed out on a place in the play-off final back in May after a dramatic stoppage-time defeat at Sunderland.
The Scotland international says whatever fixture the computer had thrown up would have been tough, given the competitive nature of the Championship, but he is relishing the battle ahead.
“Whoever you’d say (would be a real test). In the Championship, that’s what’s so good about it. You could name any team in the league and say, ‘Oh, it’s a tough start’, so I think they’ll see that and say, oh, it’s a tough start,” he told Hull Live.
“I just think that’s one of the beautiful things about the Championship. Anyone can go anywhere and win at any time. To get out of the league, there are some boys who are tipped to be favourites by a country mile, but having been there, it’s really not that easy. It’s a long old season.
“I know they’ll be a good team, I know a few of their players, they’ve got a really good manager, and we’re expecting a tough Championship game, but I’m really excited.
“The boys are ready, I’m ready. I just can’t wait to get there and get going. I actually quite like only having two days going into the season. I don’t have the anticipation, I’m just straight into the games, which is what it’s about, so I can’t wait.”
Since leaving Las Palmas the the end of May, McBurnie has been training privately as well as utilising the facilities at his former club Barnsley, but says he’s at a stage where if the call comes from Jakirovic, he’ll answer it.
“I feel good,” he continued. “We didn’t finish La Liga until I think the 27th of May, so it was nearly a month after the Championship finished, which gave me an extra month’s training and games.
“I took a bit of time off, and then I was working with my coach one-to-one, and Conor Hourihane, strangely enough, who I played with, he’s now the manager at Barnsley. I gave him a call and said, ‘Listen, can I come in and do a bit of training with you’?
“I can’t thank them enough for letting me go in and just join in with the first team training in pre-season, which really helped me. I really needed to do it. I just want to say a big, massive thank you to Conor and Barnsley for helping me out with that, and I hope they have a great season this year.
“So I’d say I feel good, I feel fit. I’ll always put my hand up to play. I’ll put my hand up to play on Saturday, no problem. Any manager and fan who’s ever been at one of my clubs knows that I’ll play whenever I’m needed. I’ve told the gaffer I’m fit and ready to go.”
Don’t miss the latest 1904 Club podcast with striker Oliver McBurnie – listen here or watch on YouTube
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