HULL. Robert Snodgrass has backed Oli McBurnie to make a significant impact in the Premier League next season, as Hull City prepare for their return to the top flight after nine years away.
The Tigers secured promotion via the Championship play off final at Wembley, with McBurnie scoring the decisive goal in stoppage time against Middlesbrough . The Scotland international finished the campaign with 18 goals across all competitions, having joined on a free transfer last summer .
Snodgrass, who won promotion with Hull at Wembley in 2016, believes the club’s recruitment model under Sergej Jakirovic provides a blueprint for Premier League survival. The Tigers operated under a transfer fee restriction last season but still landed McBurnie on a free, while loanee Joe Gelhardt contributed 15 goals, including one in the semi final victory over Millwall.
“It’s brilliant,” Snodgrass told Hull Live. “I am so pleased for everyone connected with the club. It’s obviously going to be so difficult to stay in the league; you can look at Sunderland as a team that got up through the play off and survived. But you look at their recruitment, and it was something very special. If Hull City can look to create the right culture this off season, bring in good British players and also some top European players, then they can look to compete well.”
McBurnie, overlooked for the World Cup, has been enjoying a summer of rest as he prepares for his first taste of Premier League football. Snodgrass, whose own career included spells at Leeds United, Norwich City and West Ham United, is confident the striker can trouble top flight defences .
“I like Oli up front, he can be a handful for teams,” Snodgrass added. “They need to gel nice and quickly in the opening games in the Premier League and see what happens.”
Hull’s promotion came against the odds. They finished sixth in the Championship with 73 points, but their Expected Goals data suggested they were statistically the 23rd best team in the division . Jakirovic’s side defied those numbers, and the manager will now look to strengthen a squad that outperformed expectations under his stewardship.
McBurnie, who spent five years at Sheffield United before a brief spell in La Liga with Las Palmas, has previous Premier League experience and will be central to Hull’s hopes of avoiding an immediate return to the second tier .
Reporting by Azuka; Editing by Betandsured team
