Oliver McBurnie says Barnsley have helped him prove himself in professional football and he is hoping to repay that by keeping them in the Championship.
The 21-year-old had netted just three goals in 39 games in the EFL or Premier League before arriving on loan in January and scoring eight in 15, earning a debut for Scotland last month. He told the Chronicle: "I could have stayed at Swansea and had the easy life but I needed to get out, play regular football and almost prove my worth a bit. People were starting to ask questions about if I am just an under 23s player.
"I think I have answered those questions and I don't think I would have got the international call-up if it wasn't for Barnsley. You could be the best player in the world but you need a platform to show it. I will always be grateful to this club and I want to repay what they have done for me by helping them stay up."
McBurnie thought he had signed in August on a season-long loan but it was cancelled as the appropriate paperwork had not been submitted in time.Many supporters believe Barnsley would be higher than 22nd had he played all season in his current goal-scoring form.
"Of course it's frustrating and there are questions about 'what could have been?' and 'would we have been in this position?' But I could have come in and not scored any goals in the first half of the season. Our form hasn't been as good since I have come in, so maybe I am the problem."
McBurnie's impressive goals record has been achieved despite playing on the left wing under head coach Jose Morais, who he says he fully supports and believes can keep Barnsley in the Championship. He said: "I have always been a striker throughout my career but I have been scoring goals on the wing so no-one can argue with that. I am more than happy to play in either position. I get paid to play, not to pick the team.
"We are totally behind Jose. Naturally the manager will be the focus of the criticism when we are getting beaten but we have to look at ourselves as well because we are the ones going out onto the pitch and playing. Ever since the day I came in, I thought we would be safe and I still believe that 100 per cent. We need to play well for the full 90 minutes, not just show glimpses or 20 minutes or 45 minutes. To get results in this league, you need a good 90 minutes which we're not doing at the minute."
Asked what went wrong in the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, McBurnie said: "I don't know what didn't go wrong. We can't perform like that and expect to get out of the situation we are in. I don't think we showed enough fight and spirit. It's a tough one for all of us to take but we can't sulk, we have to move on to the last two games."
