Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli has praised Hull City striker Oli McBurnie as the 30-year-old goes on the hunt for his first goal for the Tartan Army.
McBurnie was brought back from the international wilderness by the Italian, following a five-year absence under former manager Steve Clarke, which saw him miss out on this summer’s World Cup despite bagging an impressive 19 goals in the Championship to fire City to the Premier League.
While he’s yet to open his account for the Tigers this season, McBurnie has been a key figure for Sergej Jakirovic’s side in what’s been an impressive start on their return to the top-flight.
That form has seen him thrust straight into Pocognoli’s squad and led the line against Slovenia in Ljubljana on Saturday afternoon, but passed up two good chances to break his and Scotland’s deadlock in the first game of this year’s Nations League, with that clash ending goalless.
Pocognoli, though, says he’s been trying to boost McBurnie’s confidence ahead of Tuesday night’s meeting with Switzerland under the Hampden Park lights in Glasgow.
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“I say to him, ‘Oli, OK, you don’t score, but you did a great game’,” the new Tartan Army boss said ahead of Tuesday night’s meeting with the Swiss in Glasgow.
“It’s to see the positive rather than the negative. He creates chances. He makes the other one, also creating chances. It happens as a striker, so it’s good that he don’t sleep well after missing a chance, but the next day it looks like he was ready to go again, so that’s positive.”
Before McBurnie returns to Hull to prepare for next Sunday’s home showdown with unbeaten Everton, the talismanic forward has a trip to North Macedonia on Saturday, before the return with Slovenia in Glasgow next Tuesday evening.
Elsewhere in the international fold, Tigers summer signing Elliot Stroud was an unused substitute in Stockholm on Monday night as Sweden made it two wins from two with a 3-1 success over Poland.
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