McBurnie hasn’t featured for Scotland since March 2021
Ollie McBurnie in action for Hull City (Image: Getty)
Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic expects Oli McBurnie to earn a recall to the Scotland team this month.
McBurnie has collected 17 caps for Scotland over the course of his career, but his last appearance for his national team was in March 2021.
That’s because the striker fell out of favour with former Scotland boss Steve Clarke, who simply refused to pick the City man, despite his exceptional form.
McBurnie made himself hard to ignore last season, scoring 19 goals for the Tigers, including the one that took the club to the Premier League.
Clarke resisted the urge to name McBurnie in his World Cup squad, though, and that appeared to cost him dear with Scotland producing a toothless performance in the tournament.
Ultimately, Clarke made the decision to step down from his Scotland job upon the country’s elimination from the competition and that’s a decision that could open the door for McBurnie to return to the international set up.
New Scotland manager Sebastian Pocognoli has been in the job less than a month and hasn’t had the chance to name a squad yet.
However, Jakirovic believes McBurnie could and should be involved as Scotland kick off their Uefa Nations League campaign.
“This is a question for the new head coach of the Scotland team,” Jakirovic said when asked about McBurnie’s international chances. “He deserve already to be at the World Cup because he had great numbers and he is very important for team play.
“Even in these two games, just missed the goal but he didn’t have one or two chances because he worked a lot for the team and his presence is valued to us and the team.
“He is a leader without being captain. He’s important to us and I expect that he will get the invitation for September.”