Oli sets his sights

Oli McBurnie has set his sights on a first Premier League goal as the striker looks to cement a place in Carlos Carvalhal’s Swansea City side.

McBurnie hopes to feature when the Swans face Liverpool on Monday night having taken a step forward in his career in the last month.

The 21-year-old made his first top-flight start at Anfield on Boxing Day, then made the XI again at Newcastle last weekend.

In between those two fixtures, he made an impact off the bench as the Swans won at Watford in Carvalhal’s first game in charge.

The one thing lacking for McBurnie in recent weeks has been a goal – and a player who has been prolific for the Swans’ academy side is desperate to change that soon.

“I have scored goals at every level I have played at, so it has been a bit strange for me not scoring in the games I have had,” he said.

“But I am not going to let my head go down. I am a confident boy.

“It’s a tough league to score goals in – you play against better defenders and don’t get as many chances.

“For me it’s just about working hard and making a contribution, then when a chance comes my way I have to take it.”

Carvalhal’s men will begin as underdogs as they face a Liverpool side who have been scintillating form of late.

The Swans suffered their heaviest defeat of the season at Anfield last month, but they have since lost only once in five matches and head into the return fixture in upbeat mood.

“I think people can see we are improving every week,” McBurnie added.

“Up at Liverpool we went in 1-0 down at half-time and we felt we were completely in the game. We’d had a couple of half-chances and limited their opportunities.

“But then we conceded a sloppy goal from a set-piece and we crumbled a little bit after that.

“We have to be optimistic, though. We have picked up four points in our last two away games and against Spurs we showed we can compete against the biggest teams.

“Hopefully we can produce another performance against Liverpool and we’ll see where that takes us.”