Robbie Ure hopeful Scotland striking partnership with Oli McBurnie will blossom

Robbie Ure is confident that his partnership with Oli McBurnie will eventually bear fruit for Scotland despite a frustrating afternoon in Slovenia.

Ure was handed a debut for the national team, with McBurnie also winning a first cap in five years, in Sebastien Pocognoli’s new-look attack for the Nations League clash in Ljubljana.

Fresh from a big-money move to Sevilla in the summer, Ure went close to marking the occasion with a goal when he struck the post in the first half.

McBurnie, who is yet to score for Scotland in 17 caps, also had two excellent chances in the second half but was denied by Slovenia’s veteran keeper Jan Oblak.

A stalwart for Atletico Madrid over the past decade, Oblak denied McBurnie when he was through one-on-one, before also making a point-blank save to keep out a header from the Hull City striker.

But Ure believes there was enough in the performance to suggest that he and McBurnie can continue to cause teams problems up front.

‘I really enjoyed playing with him,’ said the 22-year-old. ‘These things come with time and we did a lot in training in the past week to try and get that relationship going as quickly as possible.

‘I thought Oli did really, really well dropping in to get the ball. It’s just about doing opposite movements to create space for each other. Hopefully, the more games we play, the better the relationship will get.

‘I think we have a good relationship off the pitch as well. I feel we compliment each other quite well. Listen, we’ll see.’

Scotland struggled to find any rhythm in the first half and looked disjointed, but they battered Slovenia in a dominant second-half performance.

With Switzerland up next at Hampden on Tuesday night, Ure is confident that the goals will come if they continue what they showed in the second 45 minutes in Ljubljana.

‘I really enjoyed it,’ he said of his first outing in a Scotland jersey. ‘In the first half, we suffered at times but we stuck together well and changed one or two things at the break.

‘In the second half, I think we controlled the game. We created a lot of good chances and probably should have won it in the end.

‘For me personally, I’m really happy. I enjoyed it and I’m hungry for more. I was really excited and I tried to enjoy it as much as I could.

‘I was given a lot of confidence before the game from the gaffer, a lot of trust and belief to go out and play. I’m also playing with quality players as well, so it was a great feeling.

‘He talked to be about the level I’m playing at for my club, saying it’s a top level, and just told me to go out and play my game. He said the other players on the pitch would help me and he was right. He just told me to go with a clean mindset and have fun.

‘In the last month, I have played against World Cup winning centre-backs (in La Liga). So I was just trying to take confidence from those experiences.

‘I think I did okay. I would like to try and do better if I am given the opportunity to play again. But it’s only my debut and I need to understand these things take time when I’m playing with ten different players.

‘If my shot hit the inside of the post in the first half it’s probably a goal. But the keeper covered it well. Maybe on another day, I could have gone across the goal. I was unlucky with it.

‘With the number of chances we created, it gives us a lot of belief going into the next few games, for sure. We’re a bit disappointed that we didn’t win the game.’

Ure turned a few heads when he chose to have his first name as well as his surname on the back of his jersey. Asked to explain the reasoning, he said: ‘I have the same at my club. Firstly, a lot of people (in Spain) just call me Robbie.

‘Then when I was changing club I just thought I’d include Robbie on my shirt. I don’t actually like the look of ‘Ure’ on the shirt because it’s so small, so I made the change when I moved to Sevilla.

‘I think I prefer it. I know the other way is the usual way in Scotland but it’s not the usual way in a lot of other countries in the world.

‘I got asked the same thing by my team-mates before the game when they saw my shirt hanging up. It was the first thing they asked me.’

On the prospect of facing Switzerland at Hampden, Ure added: ‘Unfortunately my family couldn’t get to the game here in Slovenia. But I have around 30 coming to Hampden on Tuesday. I’m excited to see them.

‘You could maybe say it’ll be better opposition on Tuesday but we’ll playing at home in front in an amazing crowd. We’ll take confidence from that as well.

‘If we can play on the front foot, like we did in the second half of this game against Slovenia, then we can hopefully have an enjoyable night.’