City’s talismanic striker cannot wait to get back into the top flight
Oli McBurnie is relishing his chance back in the Premier League(Image: Simon Dael/Shutterstock)
Oli McBurnie feels he has unfinished business in the Premier League, and cannot wait for another chance to prove he’s capable of performing at the top level with Hull City.
McBurnie is four appearances shy of reaching a century of appearances in the top-flight, and will spearhead City’s attack when the new season kicks off in mid-August, having fired 19 goals to help propel the Tigers back into the world’s biggest league in stunning fashion.
The 29-year-old frontman was City’s talisman throughout their glorious Championship campaign, and in many ways, it felt fitting that he should score the dramatic 95th-minute winner at Wembley that sealed promotion over the Bank Holiday weekend.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page
In his 96 previous outings in the Premier League with Swansea City and Sheffield United, McBurnie has scored 13 times, but now, older and wiser, he is determined to prove he can cut it, having been written off by many.
“It feels good, mate,” a delighted McBurnie reflected. “I’m fortunate enough to have played a lot of games in the Premier League, and I feel like, to a certain extent, I have unfinished business. I think that last year, I was in the Premier League, and I felt like I was really ready to make a proper impact again, but I was hampered by injuries and suspensions.
“I think I only started 14 games that year and, by the end of it, I was captain and missed out on so many big occasions because of injuries and missed out on getting my 100th Premier League game and all that sort of thing.
“When I went to Las Palmas, I thought maybe that might be the end of that chance of getting 100 Premier League games, because I thought I’d stay there for a long time, and then coming back here, it was the ultimate dream.
“I’ve said it to you from day one, I’ve said it to everyone from day one, not a lot of people took it seriously, and we always had that confidence within that dressing room in the club that we’d be able to do it, and we’ve done it.”
McBurnie was City’s talisman throughout the season, especially at Wembley, along with skipper Lewie Coyle, John Egan and Matt Crooks, players who have been there and done it, and they were keen to ensure the younger members of Sergej Jakirovic’s squad made the most of the whole weekend, which culminated in that magical tour around the city, and celebration in Queen Victoria Square.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of promotions, and probably when you’re a bit younger, you don’t really appreciate these as much as what you should do,” the 29-year-old continued.
“When you’re young, you think this is going to happen every year, and it isn’t the case. I had a little chat with a few of the younger boys there and said, ” Listen, really take this in and really appreciate it cos this is a special, special thing to see the fans out there and all our families out there. It puts into perspective what we’ve done this year as a team. Honestly, I just couldn’t be happier for everyone; it’s a special, special group of boys.”
During the open-top bus tour, Jakirovic FaceTimed Regan Slater in a bid to get McBurnie to put his shirt back on, worried about potential sunburn on the second-hottest day on record in May.
Crooks joked after the final that his overriding memory of Wembley was the striker pulling off his shirt after bagging the 95th-minute winner in front of 36,500 crestfallen Boro fans.
“I get really hot,” he joked. “I can only apologise for taking this off after the goal, that’s not me. I won’t be looking back on that with fond memories. It’s Wembley, it was so late on, I didn’t really know what to do. I very rarely score a goal and lose my head with that much emotion, and the magnitude of the situation was there.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I’ve never scored a goal, celebrated in front of the away fans and not got any stick. It was just pure heartbreak and shock. There were no middle fingers, no w*nker signs, nothing like that; it was pure hands on head and heartbreak.
“I feel sorry for them that they’ve been brilliant this season, Middlesbrough, but someone had to win that game, and it was never not going to be us that was going to win that game.
“I told you, I told everyone, people thought I was joking, people thought I was just saying it, but I’ve never been calmer going into a game, knowing that we were going to win. I didn’t know how we were going to do it, I just felt like we were going to do it, and we did it.”
Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.