Forgotten Scotland striker issues call-up reminder with historic hat-trick against Champions League club

The 28-year-old scored his first goals for Union Berlin in a 4-3 away win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday and made history by becoming the first Scot to net a treble in the Bundesliga.

Burke joined Union Berlin during the summer on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract with Werder Bremen, where he spent the past three years, scoring eight goals, six of them last season, while also spending time on loan with Millwall and Birmingham City.

The Kirkcaldy-born striker has commanded around £30million in transfer fees across his career which started with a move from Nottingham Forest to RB Leipzig for £13m in 2016, a record for a Scottish player at the time, and then to West Brom for £15m in 2017, surpassing his own record. He also had a spell on loan at Celtic in the 2018-19 season, scoring four goals in 19 appearances for the Parkhead side.

He netted his only international goal for Scotland in a 2-1 win over Cyprus in Clarke's first match in charge in 2019 with the last of his 13 caps coming against Israel the following year.

Regarded as an enigma - a player capable of infrequent brilliance - Burke issued a reminder of his ability at the Deutsche Bank Park, the home of Eintracht Frankfurt, with a superb hat-trick against a club who are competing in the Champions League this season.

His first on 32 minutes came on the counter attack as he raced clean through from the centre circle before finishing calmly past goalkeeper Kauã Santos to put his side 2-0 ahead.

Frankfurt pulled one back before Burke scored twice in three minutes to put Union 4-1 up. His second on 53 minutes saw him bullet a header into the top corner after outmuscling his marker before saving the best for last with a glorious first touch taking him beyond the last defender to break the offside trap before sending a delicate chip beyond Santos to claim the match ball.

Burke, on only his third start for his new club, was substituted with nine minutes left and Frankfurt threatened a comeback by scoring two late goals. However, Union held on for a 4-3 victory which saw their Scotsman hailed as the match-winning hero, raising the prospect of a possible wild card call-up for the upcoming World Cup qualifying fixtures against Greece and Belarus next month.