LA MANGA — Oli McBurnie is back in the Scotland fold after five long and controversial years in exile and says he is "eternally grateful" for the chance to show what the national team has missed. The 30-year-old Hull City striker, still without a goal in 16 caps, is favourite to lead the line against Slovenia on Saturday as Scotland begin a Nations League sequence that also includes a second meeting with Slovenia plus matches against Switzerland and North Macedonia.
Speaking to BBC Sport Scotland in La Manga on day one of his return under new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli, McBurnie arrived with his Al Pacino Scarface tattoo on display and was candid about his past. "There were times when it looked like I was never going to come back," he said. "I didn't play well enough when I put on the Scotland shirt. I can hold my hands up and say that. I didn't give the best representation of me as a player or as a person." He added: "I'll be eternally grateful to the manager for giving me the chance. I'm more determined to go out there and prove why I belong here," and said "A tap-in on Saturday or one that goes in off my backside would be lovely."
The recall follows a clean slate under Pocognoli after former boss Steve Clarke found it easy to ignore his form. Last season McBurnie scored 19 goals for Hull, including a 95th-minute play-off winner against Middlesbrough that sent the club to the Premier League. He has not scored this season but his performances have been strong and Hull are going well. Before Clarke named his World Cup squad, McBurnie rang him to ask what he could do to improve and was told he was not in contention. McBurnie said Clarke "had his own reasons for what he did" and there were "no sour notes" in the conversation, though he was "completely gutted" to miss the chance to represent his country at a World Cup.
McBurnie also addressed the perception that he is a trouble-maker, a narrative he said was built by "people on the outside putting two and two together without any substance." The view was fuelled by a 2019 behind-the-scenes video while at Sheffield United in which he told fellow Scot John Fleck he hoped not to be called up. He explained it was said for a reaction and to protect himself from insecurity, and that he rang Clarke straight away to apologise. "I was maybe 23-years-old, an insecure kid. I've definitely grown up. I'm a lot more confident and content with myself," he said.