Burgeoning Burke hungry to learn at Leipzig

Scotland's Oliver Burke plans to fly his mother to Germany to supply a taste of home cooking as he seeks to cement his future at RB Leipzig.

An international at just 19, the speedy winger was told to forget everything he had learned tactically at Nottingham Forest after RB signed him for a reported $16 million last August.

Backed by energy drink giant Red Bull, Leipzig is enjoying a stellar first season in Germany's top flight after opening with a record 13-match unbeaten run.

But a 3-0 pre-Christmas loss to league leader Bayern Munich set it back. Now that the winter break is over, Leipzig returns to action on Saturday against Eintracht Frankfurt - the first in a series of tough matches.

Since signing a five-year contract with RB, which sits second in the Bundesliga standings, just three points behind Bayern, Burke said he's been on a steep learning curve.

Bringing his mom to Germany might help him make the transition.

"The thing I miss most is home cooking - I am not the best chef," Burke said.

"I feel at my strongest when my family is here and I miss them when they're not. It's brilliant that I can get them over to live with me."

Burke said he immediately knew that he had made the right decision to leave English soccer.

"As soon as I stepped through the door here, I knew it was the perfect club for me," he said. "The facilities are great and everyone has made me feel welcome."

But Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuettl said the teenager had to start from scratch tactically.

Burke said he has been using his mobile phone to familiarize himself with video analysis, alongside German lessons three times a week.

"I'm learning every day on the pitch and watching all the video analysis I can, even on my phone," he said.

"I'm constantly looking where I can improve."

Hasenhuettl said the hard work is paying off.

Burke's progress was on display as he scored in Sunday's 4-0 thrashing of Glasgow Rangers in a friendly.

"We've worked hard with Ollie in the past few weeks; you could see that from the way he played against Rangers," said Hasenhuettl.

"He is eager to learn and things are becoming second nature to him.

"He still has a few mistakes in his game to iron out, which could be dangerous for the opposition, but he is an option for us."

Burke said RB's stunning start to its first top-flight season did not catch him by surprise, even if he has had to settle for a bit-part role so far, starting just one of 13 league games to date.

"To be honest, from speaking with the coaches, you could see where they want to be, so I wasn't surprised (at its strong start)," he said.

"It all happened very quickly under my own eyes and we have adapted really well.

"Now we have to keep going and push on in the second half of the season."

'Great feeling'

Burke said inexperienced Leipzig, with an average age of 24, must forget about the loss at Bayern as it bids to bridge the three-point gap.

"Bayern is obviously a very strong team and has a lot more experience than we do, but that game has gone and there's no point dwelling on it," said Burke.

After hosting Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday - Bayern is away to Freiburg on Friday - Leipzig's tough start to 2017 continues with matches against Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund in back-to-back games with all three opponents in the Bundesliga's top six.

"We should take some confidence from the Rangers game. It's all about taking three points from each game now," said Burke, who took his chance against the Scottish team when he netted two minutes from the break in sub-zero temperatures.

"It was my first start at Red Bull Arena so it was a great feeling to score against Rangers," he said.

More opportunities might follow for the Scottish teen-ager because Sweden's Emil Forsberg was sent off against Bayern and is banned for the next three games.

Forsberg, 25, was dismissed Dec 23 for a sliding challenge on Philipp Lahm.