Steve Clarke thinks Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie can win back the Scotland fans.
McBurnie annoyed some of the Tartan Army when a Blades social media video picked up the 23-year-old making apparently disparaging comments about playing for the nation.
The forward was speaking to fellow Scot John Fleck at the time and insists what he says was a joke.
It has since been revealed that McBurnie apologised to the staff and players. But ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifier with Russia tonight, Clarke says there is one way he can gain the trust of the supporters again.
“I’m sure the supporters will get right behind the team,” the 56-year-old was quoted by the Guardian.
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“The best thing he can do is go out, play really well and show everybody how committed he is. If he wants, he could score a goal. That would be nice as well.”
“We have moved on and we urge everyone else to move on from it. Finished.
“If he didn’t want to be here, he wouldn’t be here. That’s the bottom line. He had never worked with me before. He has no reason to say: ‘I don’t want to go,’ because he didn’t know what it was like. After the game you can quiz him and he will tell you he enjoyed it.”
How Oli McBurnie upset Scotland fans
(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
According to the Daily Record, McBurnie was filmed by Sheffield United TV saying he didn’t want to get called up to international duty because it was “s***e.”
When Fleck asked; “are you going away?”, the attacker responded: “I hope not.”
Blades manager Chris Wilder played down the situation, telling BBC Sport it had been “blown out of proportion” and was said in “jest.”
Scotland assistant, Steven Reid, then revealed that McBurnie had publicly explained himself to his teammates and that they had “drawn a line under it.”
