ALEX McLeish has pledged to solve the “conundrum” over Oliver Burke’s best position in Scotland’s forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifying double header.
McLeish has included Burke in his 27-man squad for the Group I games against Kazakhstan in Astana on Thursday and San Marino in Serravalle on Sunday.
The 21-year-old has been in impressive form since joining Celtic on loan from English Championship club West Brom back in January.
He has mainly been played up front at Parkhead – even though he is a right winger – and has scored four goals in 14 appearances.
McLeish has been pleased to see the 6ft 2in forward, who last represented his country in a friendly against Canada at Easter Road two years ago, feature regularly in recent weeks.
READ MORE: Oliver Burke ready to lead line for Scotland
He is hopeful he can figure out where the country’s most expensive player, who joined West Brom from RB Leipzig for £15 million in 2017, is most dangerous.
“He’s a little bit of a conundrum, Oli,” he said. “He can play wide and some people think that’s his best position. He’s also played for Celtic through the middle in certain games.
“But in certain moments we’re going to try and use as much common sense as possible to get the best out of Oli.
“We don’t think he’s a hold-up man. We think he’s got other things in his locker.
“We’ll be looking for the right opportunities to unleash him and play him in whatever position we feel will get the maximum out of him.
“We’ve spoken about it. I’m not saying that he’ll not start at centre-forward in one of the games or whatever, but we believe he’s versatile.”
READ MORE: Oliver Burke and Liam Palmer called up for Scotland
Burke started for Scotland in their Russia 2018 qualifiers against Malta and Lithuania back in 2016 after he had moved to Leipzig from Nottingham Forest for £13 million.
But the Kirkcaldy-born footballer has struggled to fulfil his potential since then and has fallen out of the national set-up.
McLeish has been pleased to see him getting regular game time, both domestically and in Europe, since joining Celtic and is hopeful he can be a potent weapon for his country.
“There’s nothing like getting your confidence back and playing with confidence,” he said.
“Sometimes you do things on the park and you don’t think about it, you just do it because the confidence is there.
“And then when you lose confidence, you wonder where it went and how you get it back and no matter how hard you try, it doesn’t come back.
“Coming to Celtic, a team that is expected to win every week, he now knows about a winning mentality.
“I’m not saying he didn’t get that at his other clubs, but at Celtic, it’s a different kettle of fish.”
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