Oli McBurnie reveals his recovery strategy after emphasising a vital Sheffield United weapon for the Sunderland play-off final.
Oli McBurnie is backed his former side Sheffield United to return to the Premier League this weekend, ahead of a pivotal summer in the Scottish international’s career. The Blades face Sunderland in an anxiously awaited play-off final at Wembley.
McBurnie, who departed the Blades after his contract expired last summer, will be on duty with current club Las Palmas away against Espanyol and will be unable to travel to Wembley to support his old team and manager, Chris Wilder.
He has, however, maintained a close eye on United’s fortunes this season and believes they will prevail against the Black Cats. “I’m really excited for the boys,” the 28-year-old stated.
“Whenever I’ve had the opportunity to watch the games this season, I’ve been quite impressed. It was a difficult offseason in the summer, and the manager, staff, and boys deserve a lot of credit for getting to this point.
“I’ve watched whenever I can and have complete faith in the boys this weekend; there are some notable figures who have been there and done it before, and hopefully that experience helps them cope.”
Boss Wilder had wanted to keep McBurnie at Bramall Lane, but the ongoing takeover offer dashed those aspirations, and United finished their pre-season campaign without the team Wilder had planned for.
However, several players arrived, especially custodian Michael Cooper, and the Blades moved from strength to strength. “No-one really knew what was going to happen in the summer, and it’s testament to the manager, players, and staff,” McBurnie told BBC Radio Sheffield. “Give them all the credit in the world.” With the changeover in the summer, I doubt many people expected them to score 90 points.
“They recruited extremely effectively, and the manager has demonstrated once more how effective a manager he is and how he gets the most out of a dressing room. When you play for him, he motivates you to run through a brick wall, as evidenced by the guys’ performances this season.
“One of the strongest parts of his game is knowing how to get the best out of boys in certain situations. He’ll know who he needs t challenge and who needs an arm around the shoulder, to go and get 100 per cent out of them all. He needed to give me a kick up the backside sometimes and different things for other boys. He’ll know which buttons to press to get the best.”
McBurnie moved to Spain with the purpose of keeping Las Palmas in La Liga, but the club has failed to stay in the top flight, and a relegation release clause in the striker’s contract is now kicking in amid reports of a return to England.
Hull City and his former club, Swansea City, have been mentioned as possible destinations. “We didn’t reach our goal this season and we didn’t manage to stay up, so my contract has gone from three years to up again,” McBurnie told me. “So I am a free agent. I just need to come home and spend time with my family.
“It’s been wonderful to be here, but it’s also been difficult to be so far away from my family. I will discuss it with the missus and decide what we want to do.
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