Sheffield United striker outscores most of his compatriots but still misses out for Scotland

After finding the back of the net on 15 occasions as United gained promotion from the Championship and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, McBurnie was hopeful of regaining his international place ahead of this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Georgia.

But Clarke has opted to overlook the 26-year-old and opt for AFC Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes of Queens Park Rangers and Hibernian’s Kevin Nisbet. Only Lawrence Shankland, previously of United’s sister club Beerschot, has been more prolific after claiming 28 goals for Heart of Midlothian.

Speaking earlier this month, as he celebrated United’s return to the Premier League, McBurnie spoke openly about his determination to add to his 16 caps for Scotland despite stressing his focus remained on helping Heckingbottom’s squad establish a foothold in the top-flight.

Heckingbottom has gone on record to express his surprise that McBurnie has seemingly fallen out of favour with Clarke, despite being at pains to stress he was not criticising or questioning the picks of his counterpart at the Scottish FA. However, he did pinpoint McBurnie as a driving force behind United’s return to the highest level following a two year absence.

Norway could field McBurnie’s team mate Sander Berge against the Scots, after the midfielder was told, much to Heckingbottom’s annoyance, that he needed to play at the highest level in order to realise his potential by head coach Stale Solbakken.