Pocognoli Dismisses Concerns Over McBurnie's Goal Drought, Focuses on Team Performance

Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli is unconcerned by Oli McBurnie's ongoing goal drought for the national team, stating that the striker's contributions extend beyond finding the back of the net. McBurnie, who returned to the international fold after a five-year absence, has started in each of Pocognoli's first three games in charge but is yet to score in 19 appearances for Scotland.

Pocognoli views McBurnie's recent performances differently from those who believe goals are the sole metric for his selection. "For me, when he started it was like zero caps," Pocognoli said. "Against Slovenia he had a great game. He should have scored once, he knows that, and against Switzerland it was difficult to judge. But he produced something that the crowd appreciated. They saw that and they are now maybe more in love with each other — it was like a goal for him."

The manager highlighted McBurnie's effectiveness in linking play and creating dangerous situations, even if the final product of a goal has been elusive. "In Macedonia he produced a lot of good action to be dangerous and maybe he should have scored one if we gave him the cross, but that moment will arrive. I don’t make an issue out of it," Pocognoli added. He wants the striker to focus on his overall impact rather than solely on scoring. "He was desperate to come back and so that is good. He was desperate to show that he is proud to be there, that is OK. I just want to make sure that he is not just focused on that (goals)."

Scotland is preparing for a rematch against Slovenia after a 0-0 draw in their opening Nations League match. The team currently sits on four points after a home loss to Switzerland and a win against North Macedonia. Pocognoli anticipates a challenging encounter against Slovenia, expecting them to employ a low block and be strong on the counter-attack. He stressed the need for patience and smart play from his team, drawing parallels to their difficulties against Switzerland.

"At Hampden, we will maybe face a low block from Slovenia, like they did against Switzerland, so it means we need to be patient, we need to be smart also. They are really strong on the counter, but we want to try to present to the crowd what our game plan is. The challenge is to stay patient against a low block and to stay focused against a very quick transition team," he explained.

Pocognoli also addressed the issue of red cards in recent matches, with Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna both being sent off. He hopes the team can finish their upcoming match with 11 players and emphasized the importance of learning from these incidents to avoid future occurrences, especially in crucial games. "I hope we can finish with 11 men. But yes, that was a 'switch off' moment (in both matches). I’d say the first red card was a stricter red card that we tried to fix for the next game. We were more compact. We have to learn because we cannot allow this in the future for the big games."

Despite the mixed results and disciplinary issues, Pocognoli has found the extended international break beneficial for implementing his ideas with a new-look squad. "Yes, for me it’s been good that we’ve had such a long international break and to have three midweeks," he stated. "The first week in La Manga was gold. It was used to get to know my group and get my ideas across. The whole thing has been a huge benefit to understand where I am and what I want to produce with the players."