McBurnie & seven uncapped players in Scotland squad

Oli McBurnie has been recalled to the Scotland squad for the first time in five years, with new head coach Sebastien Pocognoli also including seven uncapped players.

Luis Binks, Colby Donovan, Jon McCracken, Josh McPake and Stephen Welsh join McBurnie in Pocognoli's first selection for upcoming Nations League matches against Slovenia (home and away), North Macedonia, and Switzerland.

As expected, Stoke defender Luke Graham and Sevilla striker Robbie Ure also received their first senior call-ups.

Scott Bain, Kieron Bowie, Josh Doig, Lennon Miller and James Wilson are recalled, and Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour returns after missing the World Cup injured.

McBurnie, 30, first featured for his country in 2018 and won the last of his 16 caps in 2021. He has never scored for Scotland but did net one of the penalties in the shootout that sealed a place at the delayed Euro 2020 finals.

He has long been out of favour with both Pocognoli's predecessor Steve Clarke and some sections of the Scotland support, but the new head coach said this was "a new journey" and that McBurnie fits how he wants to play.

"It's a new opportunity for some players, a really new beginning for the other ones," Pocognoli added. "I have to start a new journey, start a new book.

"The most important is regarding the style of play that I want to produce on the pitch. We need to adapt quick.

"To be honest, I can extend this list because I have to make some choices. There are a lot of names who can be also in that squad for that camp. Players who are not there is because for the style of play, it can be from injury or playing time.

"There's many players that I would like to call up. The door is never closed."

Pocognoli will take charge for the first time on Saturday, 26 September in Scotland's Nations League B opener in Slovenia.

He debut in the Hampden dugout will be three days later against Switzerland, with a trip to face North Macedonia on 3 October followed by the visit of Slovenia.

"We have a good mix between experienced players, new faces, first cap players, young lads, players who are back," the Belgian added.

"We have a lot of leaders, we have a lot of players who know how to win games.

"We want to be ambitious in this Nations League. We have to use this Nations League to try things, to experiment things but the most important is to be ambitious."

Binks, 25, has previously played age grade football for England and Scotland and Pocognoli said "the timing was right" to select the left-sided centre-back, who plays his club football in Denmark with Brondby.

Right-back Donovan, 20, has come to prominence with Celtic in recent months, filling in for injured Canada right-back Alistair Johnston ahead of Anthony Ralston.

Like McBurnie, he has been capped at under-19 and under-21 level. Pocognoli said Donovan had "played some good games" and had dealt with "expectation".

Graham was part of Scotland's pre-World Cup training camp in May after a breakthrough campaign with Dundee, winning the Scottish Premiership club's players' player and young player of the year awards.

The 22-year-old was an unused substitute in the send-off friendly win against Curacao, but moved to Stoke City in the summer and has started strongly in the English Championship.

Another new boy playing in that league is Swansea City defender Welsh, 26, who left Celtic in a permanent deal in the summer, having had a successful season on loan at Motherwell last term.

Former Rangers academy product Ure was in demand across Europe after his 20 goals in 20 matches took Sirius to the top of the table in Sweden.

That form resulted in a £5.5m summer transfer to Sevilla and, although the 22-year-old has yet to score in Spain, his eligibility for Ukraine made securing him for Scotland a priority.

Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken, was confident there would be a few players from the Tynecastle club included and winger McPake, 25, and 19-year-old attacking club-mate James Wilson, who has two caps, are recognised for their early-season performances. However, winger Calvin Miller misses out.

Bradford City keeper McCracken, 26, has been in squads previously, but has yet to win a cap. He joins Angus Gunn, Liam Kelly, and Scott Bain in the goalkeeping pool.

"I will not talk about my number one and number two today," Pocognoli said. "We have a strong generation in the past. Now we need just to rebirth this but we have good quality. We have experienced goalkeepers and we have some young talents."

Sassuolo forward Bowie, 23, and left-back Doig, 24, as well as Udinese midfielder Miller, 20, have also been recalled.

Fourteen of those named in Pocognoli's first squad were among the 28 players who went to this summer's World Cup.

Napoli midfielder ScottMcTominay is unavailable as he recovers from a minor heart procedure.

Torino striker Che Adams is injured, while Rangers forward Lawrence Shankland is out for up to four months with a hamstring injury.

Gunn and Kelly; defenders Jack Hendry, Aaron Hickey, Scott McKenna, Nathan Patterson, Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney; midfielders Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson, John McGinn and Kenny McLean; and forwards Findlay Curtis and Ben Gannon-Doak are all retained.

Goalkeeper Craig Gordon has retired, Grant Hanley has toiled with injury at Hibernian, and Rangers defender John Souttar has not played this season.

Defenders Dominic Hyam and Anthony Ralston, midfielder Tyler Fletcher and forwards Lyndon Dykes,George Hirst and Ross Stewart also miss out.

When asked about the possibility of calling up Scotland-qualified Newcastle attacker Harvey Barnes and Everton midfielder Hayden Hackney, Pocognoli said he was "aware of everything and about the feeling of everybody" and said "it's about timing."

"I don't want to convince players," he explained. "They need to be open to representing in the natural way, the country. We'll see in the future."

Goalkeepers: Scott Bain (Falkirk), Angus Gunn (San Jose Earthquakes), Liam Kelly (Rangers), Jon McCracken (Bradford City)

Defenders: Luis Binks (Brondby), Josh Doig (Sassuolo), Colby Donovan (Celtic), Luke Graham (Stoke City), Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Scott McKenna (Dinamo Zagreb), Nathan Patterson (Torino), Andy Robertson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieran Tierney (Celtic), Stephen Welsh (Swansea City).

Midfielders: Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Lewis Ferguson (Bologna), Billy Gilmour (Napoli), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Josh McPake (Hearts), Lennon Miller (Udinese).

Forwards: Kieron Bowie (Sassuolo), Findlay Curtis (Rangers), Ben Gannon-Doak (Bournemouth), Oli McBurnie (Hull City), Robbie Ure (Sevilla), James Wilson (Hearts).