Thursday 29 August 2019 11:36, UK
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has reiterated Oli McBurnie's commitment to the Scotland national side after a video appeared on social media allegedly showing him disrespecting the team.
McBurnie, who was called up to Steve Clarke's Scotland squad earlier this week, has been accused of replying with "hope not" when asked if he had been called up, among other comments.
United's record signing has since faced criticism from fans for his comments, but Wilder played down the incident explaining how McBurnie was being goaded by some of his team-mates.
"When you are in dressing rooms for as long as I am you hear a lot of things, some things said seriously, some in jest," he said.
"When you look into it, the banter that goes on between the players, in that corridor there are four Irish lads [among others].
"For me it's nothing, it's been blown out of proportion.
"From my dealings with Oli, he is as proud as can be to be a Scottish fan. I've met his dad and one of the first things that I said to him before coming here was with regards to the national side.
"Hopefully the more good performances he can put in for us in the Premier League will give him a good chance of playing for the national side.
"We've even had individual chats when he was living in Leeds, it was always Rangers and it was always Scotland."
Former Manchester United and West Ham midfielder Ravel Morrison produced a man-of-the-match performance on his full Sheffield United debut in midweek, setting up one of the goals in a 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Blackburn.
Wilder says the 26-year-old "did himself a world of good" and hinted he may have played his way into contention to start against Chelsea on Saturday.
He added: "The tempo and the rhythm of the game on Tuesday night was affected by the changes but we were caught between a rock and a hard place because of the importance of the game on Saturday and getting minutes to players who have not played.
"I expected them to play a little better as a team but understandably with the changes we lost our rhythm.
"Ravel did not do himself any harm as neither did a few of the players on the night.
"Some took their opportunities and some miss out, that is always the case. We won't tell you who missed out. Ravel did himself a world of good."
