Oli McBurnie ‘epitomises’ the Swansea approach after winning start to life in Championship, says Graham Potter

Swansea City manager Graham Potter has hailed striker Oli McBurnie as a leading example, claiming his attitude “epitomises” what the club is about.

McBurnie has been the number one striker for the Swans so far this season, while an injured Wilfried Bony remains on the sidelines. The 22-year-old missed a penalty in Swansea’s 1-0 win against Preston North End at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, in a game he failed to get a grip on, missing another chance late on to seal the victory.

However, a cheerful Potter spoke highly of his player after the match, opening up about how much he’s enjoyed working with him so far.

“He’s probably epitomised what we’re trying to do,” said Potter. “He stepped up [to miss a penalty] and it happens in football, you miss penalties, but I think his response was brilliant. I thought the crowd’s response to him was equally brilliant – I thank them for that.

“He’s been a pleasure to work with, and I think he’s going to be part of what we’re doing here going forward, because his interpersonal qualities are really important.”

McBurnie joined Swansea back in 2015, but spent the majority of his time on loan at Newport, Bristol Rovers, and most recently Barnsley earlier this year – where he netted nine times in 17 appearances.

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After scoring in last week’s game against Sheffield United, his first senior goal for the club, the Scot said his new manager had brought a smile back to the faces of the Swansea team. Potter returned the compliment in spades, referencing the first time he spoke to the striker about his future in South Wales. In July, McBurnie signed a new three-year deal.

“On the first day I spoke to [McBurnie] about his contract, he just said ‘look I just want to have the chance to play’,” said Potter, “He didn’t say ‘look, I want to play’. He knew that it doesn’t work that way, and I think some players sometimes forget that.

“He said ‘no, I just want to play, and if I’m not good enough then that’s fine. But if I am, I want to be in with a chance to play’. And I think probably he’s seen players come in with bigger CVs and better history in their careers and probably he’s had to take a step back, but he’s fantastic. You wouldn’t want a better person to represent the club than him.”

Four of the players from Saturday’s line-up against Preston had played together in the club’s under-23s squad, one of them being McBurnie.

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Potter’s selection hinted he advocated for the development of his younger squad, although with four key players leaving the club on transfer deadline day, that may not have largely been a matter of choice.

“Oli obviously benefitted last year from going out on loan,” said the manager, “and you’ve got Connor [Robets] and Joe [Rodon] here, and others who’ve come through that system. I think it’s great, it gives everybody a shot in the arm, if you like.

“Sometimes you can get stuck in that [under] 23s and it wares the pathway to your first-team football. So we’re stuck in this dichotomy almost of we want signings, but we also want to play young players, and you don’t realise there’s a bit of a problem with that, but that’s the challenge. But I’m pleased with them all, they looked really good.