The in-form frontman must surely be close to ending his Tartan Army exile
Sergej Jakirovic admits he’s surprised that in-form Hull City striker Oli McBurnie has not been recalled to the Scotland squad after a blistering start to the season.
McBurnie hasn’t played for his country since collecting the last of his 16 caps four years ago and wants to be reunited with the Tartan Army, but so far, boss Steve Clarke has resisted the temptation.
The 29-year-old delivered another Man of the Match display on Saturday as City swept aside his former club Sheffield United at the MKM Stadium, and though he didn’t get on the scoresheet, his all-round display was key to the Tigers winning a third home game of the season.
McBurnie has seven goals and three assists in his opening 10 league and cup games so far this term, and has been nominated for the Championship’s Player of the Month for September.
Though he’s on the backup list again this month for World Cup qualifiers as he was back in September, McBurnie is still waiting for a full international call-up, and one his form clearly deserves according to his boss.
“I’m surprised,” the City boss told Hull Live. “He has shown everything on the pitch, which is perfect. Maybe they have some of their own reasons. I don’t know, but how he’s playing now, it’s perfect, almost perfect.
“I’m always, you know, a little bit cautious because they can always invite him because he’s on the preliminary list, yes, so, if something happened there, they will call him.”
Jakirovic joked that in his first meeting with the 29-year-old, his opening question to the striker was ‘Can you score 15 goals’ and after each one, McBurnie reminded the Croatian that he’s getting ever closer to that lofty target.
“Almost one goal per round, almost one goal per round, and yes, he’s counting because I asked him about this,” the charismatic head coach continued. “Can you score 15 goals? He just had to laugh, but he’s counting now. Every day after every game, ‘coach’ (he looks at Jakirovic and smiles), so it’s perfect because without goals (we would struggle). Our attacking phase is very good, but we need to find the balance between defence and offence.”
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