The in-form frontman has been in electric form this season
Oli McBurnie believes something special is slowly building at Hull City after last Saturday’s terrific 1-0 win over Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United made it three home wins from five games at the start of the new season.
David Akintola’s first Tigers goal after half-an-hour sealed victory against McBurnie’s former club, and moved City to within three points of the top six after nine games.
City remain a work in progress, but wins over Southampton and Sheffield United have shown Sergej Jakirovic’s side can mix it with some of the fancied teams in the Championship.
Notching up 1-0 wins was a key part of Sheffield United’s successful promotions previously, and McBurnie is keen to see more of those, along with some much-needed consistency.
“It’s not always going to be pretty in this league,” he told Sky Sports. “I think we’ve been a little bit too entertaining at times this season, and those 1-0 victories against great teams are huge come the end of the season, so really, really proud of that one. Those one-nillers feel good.
“We were nowhere near good enough in midweek (against Preston North End) in the first half, and then second half’s so much better. If we’re 0-0, we’re always in the game, and then once we go 1-0 up, we know that the big man (Ivor Pandur) will come up with some big, big moments, and he saved us, but I thought the boys were excellent.”
The challenge for City now is to back up a victory with another, with that chance coming at Birmingham City after the international break, but the Scotsman is quietly confident about the early-season signs.
“Yes, definitely,” he said when asked if he felt something was building at City this season. “We’ve shown glimpses of it this season, whether it be the first half or the second half, and we know we needed to put a performance together throughout the 90 minutes. Really proud of the boys.
“It definitely wasn’t pretty at times, but three points is massive in this league. I’d much rather not score and we win and get the result like that. Buzzing wth the three points, excellent.”
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