Oliver McBurnie scored the first of Swansea City’s four goals in last night’s 4-0 win over Charlotte Independence, and is hoping that it will help him reach the senior squad.
He is the only recognised striker in the squad for the club’s American tour, a testament to the faith that manager Francesco Guidolin has in the young Scot.
McBurnie is yet to make an official appearance for the first team, following his move from Bradford City in January 2015.
What did McBurnie have to say?
The young forward is certainly optimistic about his opportunities ahead of the upcoming season. He told the club's official website: “Every season I am hopeful about getting a chance. Last season I went out on loan a couple of times and played my fair share of games in the under-21s.”
McBurnie will hope to follow in the footsteps of fellow Scottish youngster Stephen Kingsley, who made a real impact on the team last season and is in contention to start the opening league game against Burnley.
“This season everything’s going well and it would be really nice to get even a sniff of a chance in the first team," he said. "If I do get the opportunity, it’s down to me to take it. Hopefully I can show what I can do.”
What McBurnie has to do
The striker has already made quite the impression on fans, and scoring a speculative strike against Charlotte certainly won’t do him any harm either.
Swansea have one more game in America, against Richmond Kickers on Saturday, where McBurnie will certainly get at least 45 minutes of game time. Another impressive performance would surely put him in Guidolin’s latter pre-season plans.
A lot has to do with how many forwards Swansea sign this off-season, and how much of an impression they make on the manager.
So far, the club have been linked with Leonardo Ulloa, Hal Robson-Kanu, Simone Zaza and Miller Bolanos among many. It’s early days, but the list of players is somewhat underwhelming and if those are the quality brought in, McBurnie could be in with a shout of featuring in the Premier League.