McBurnie: It was written for me to score play-off final winner

Hull's Oli McBurnie said it was "written for me" to score the winner in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final that sent the Tigers back to the Premier League.

The striker struck in the 95th minute at Wembley to earn Sergej Jakirovic's side a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough and send them back to the top flight after nine years away.

"For the first time ever, I think I'm speechless!," he told Sky Sports.

"It's been a long, hard season and that game today summed us up. We knew we weren't going to come in and have all of the ball - I don't think we've won a game this year when we've had more of the ball than the opposition!

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"It was tough out there with the heat and Middlesbrough are a top, top team. We knew we were going to be right up against it, but we felt we'd have one chance and it was written for me to get it.

"I didn't think it would be so late on, but what a feeling.

"When I first got my move to Sheffield United, it was what they expected of me and I probably wasn't really ready to be that person.

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"As I've grown and got older and more mature, I think I've grown into that role and I enjoy that. I was looking forward to this game so much I couldn't sleep last night!"

McBurnie, 29, joined Hull from La Liga side Las Palmas last summer and scored 19 goals in all competitions, including the aforementioned winner.

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"When I came back from Las Palmas, I knew some of the lads in the dressing room, whether I'd played with them or against them. It wasn't all about the ability that they had but also the character they had.

"I knew I was going into a dressing room with winners. If you surround yourself with enough winners, you are going to win.

"When things get tough, you look around and you have 10 other men who you really want to go to war with and fight with. That's what it was out there today. At times, I was knackered but the lads were giving me that extra little bit.

"There are games this season where people will be wondering how we've won a game, a bit like today, but it is down to the character of the boys in the dressing room. I can't speak highly enough of them."

Hull captain Lewie Coyle also spoke to Sky Sports after leading his hometown club to promotion.

His father Chris Coyle, who died suddenly in 2022, was a well-known figure in the city, where he ran a fruit and veg stall in the city while raising four boys who have all gone on to become professional sportsmen.

"It's tough. There's just one man I want to celebrate this with. He's not with us. I look up at the sky and I had a look up there today. He's with me, I know he's with me, for sure.

"The next best thing is I have my family, my beautiful partner, my little boy, my brothers and my friends that have been there since day one.

"I don't think there's many people that thought I could captain a side to the Premier League and even saying that out loud sounds a little bit wild. I'm just an honest, humble kid.

"But there's certainly one man that would have believed in me and that's my old man - and that's all I told myself throughout the game.