Oliver Burke warns injured Scotland players their places could be at threat

Oliver Burke has warned Scotlands no-shows they may find someone has pinched their slot when they finally rejoin Steve Clarkes squad.The Scots suffered a fresh blow this week as they prepare to bring the curtain down on a disastrous Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with two dead rubbers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan after skipper Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay, Ryan Fraser and Liam Cooper were all ruled out through injury.The call-offs sparked a fresh round of debate over the level of commitment being shown to the national team but Alaves forward Burke has no doubt his absent colleagues are genuinely unfit.However, he warned that there will be plenty of others looking to snatch the positions left vacant.Scotland squad update:IN: Lewis Morgan Graeme Shinnie.OUT: Liam Cooper, Ryan Fraser, Scott McTominay Andy Robertson. pic.twitter.com/P8yCQF3hww Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) November 12, 2019While Liverpool star Robertson is a certainty to reclaim his slot if he makes himself available for Marchs Nations League play-offs which offer a wild card ticket for next summers finals Burke will be looking to oust Bournemouth wideman Fraser by impressing during the upcoming double-header.He said: Its very disappointing if a player pulls out of a squad when hes not injured and is maybe prioritising his club.But I wouldnt see (this weeks call-offs) as that. Id see it as there was games before we come and sometimes you do pick up knocks in your last game which stops you joining up.Its unfortunate that players cant make the squad because of injuries but thats part of football. The players here have to come together now, work hard and maybe they can cement their spot its not always a good thing if you do have to pull out. View this post on Instagram Training hard, ready for Cyprus. A post shared by Scotland (@scotlandnationalteam) on Nov 13, 2019 at 3:00am PSTThe next two games offers Burke the opportunity to wrack up some much-needed minutes.Since making a 15million switch to West Brom from German outfit RB Leipzig in 2017, he has made just 20 appearances for the Baggies 18 of those coming from the bench.A loan stint at Celtic last season offered some more regular action but he has again found himself mostly used as a substitute since being farmed out to his current LaLiga side.The 22-year-old former Nottingham Forest winger admits the nomadic existence that has seen him clock up six clubs already in his short career is starting to bring him down.But he is refusing to give up hope that he can find somewhere to call a permanent home.Burke has found himself sidelined at West Brom (Nick Potts/PA)Its been really frustrating not actually staying at one club and cementing a spot, he explained. Id love to be at a club where Im the first name on the team sheet every week.But that will come with time. Im still at a good age and Im just doing everything I can to learn the game so that when opportunities do come, Im able to stay in the team and get a good run of games, because thats what I need.The situation at West Brom is very difficult for me because Ive been there for so long but Ive not played that many games for them.You almost feel like youre not part of that team as Ive been on loan to all these other clubs. @CelticFC 2-0 @HibernianFC Celtic remain 6 clear at the top Christie opens scoring as January signing Toljan assists Burke scores again to seal 3 points Watch the best of the action on the #SPFL YouTube channel https://t.co/y74KSempmb pic.twitter.com/dGbqxK2jmg SPFL (@spfl) February 7, 2019I just have to focus on this loan Im on right now and hopefully good things come from it and it can put me in the shop window.Game time is the most important thing for me. When youre playing week in, week out you have the confidence to show what youre capable of. Sometimes you come off the bench and think, Right I need to create something or score but then you realise you only have five or 10 minutes.The pressure is hard and to make an impact in such a short period of time is difficult.I speak to people who have coached me down the years who tell me to look at how far Ive come and to just keep going, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.Burke is looking to feature for Scotland against Cyprus this weekend having scored the winner when the teams last met at Hampden (Jeff Holmes/PA)For me, there have been highs but many lows so I just have to keep working hard and not let my head drop.I know what kind of player I am so I just have to keep going and hope good things come.Scotland duty has offered some relief from his club concerns and Burke is hoping for a repeat of his June winner against Cyprus the last time the sides met.He said: Thats one of my favourite moments in football. I really cherish that memory and hopefully I get many more opportunities to score goals for Scotland.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By PA Sport Staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '7bca272f-7669-48a5-8718-0d52620f09cb');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Oliver Burke warns injured Scotland players their places could be at threat'});