No one should begrudge Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie his chance to have a pop at the critics

The Sheffield United centre-forward, who scored from the spot as the Scot’s reached the finals via a nerve-racking penalty shoot-out win over Serbia on Thursday night, was pictured taking part in the wild celebrations which followed on the pitch inside Belgrade’s Marakana stadium.

But once his emotions had subsided and Clarke’s squad began to comprehend the magnitude of what they had just achieved, McBurnie took to Twitter to send a message to Michael Stewart; the former Manchester United midfielder turned television pundit who has spent the best part of a year questioning his international credentials. It contained only one word: “Helmet”.

Chris Wilder, United’s manager at Bramall Lane, will hope helping Scotland qualify for their first major tournament since 1998 can help McBurnie regain some of the confidence he has inevitably lost during the club’s disappointing start to the new Premier League season, which sees them begin preparations for next weekend’s game against West Ham at the foot of the table and without a win in eight outings. The same goes for Oliver Burke, an unused substitute in the Serbian capital, and John Fleck too - who missed the trip to the Balkans because of a back injury. Barring a major change of heart on Clarke’s part - and the 57-year-old has gone on record to confirm his admiration for all three - United can expect to send three representatives to the rescheduled competition, which will see Scotland face England, the Czech Republic and Croatia in the group stages.

With Sheffield Wednesday’s Liam Palmer and Callum Paterson also featuring in Clake’s plans, the Steel City could have five Scotland players at the Euros, which were supposed to be staged earlier this year until the Covid-19 pandemic forced a postponement. McBurnie and Paterson actually finished the play-off against Serbia partnering each other in attack as Clarke began to ring the changes during the closing stages of a contest which finished all-square at the end of normal time when Luka Jovic cancelled-out Ryan Christie’s opener in the 90th minute.

An important message: To help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to from the football team at The Star, please consider taking out a subscription to our new discounted sports-only package. You'll find all the details at https://www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions/sports. Your support is much appreciated.