Scotland were left to rue a series of second-half missed chances as Sebastien Pocognoli’s reign began with a goalless Nations League draw against Slovenia in Ljubljana.
Pocognoli made five changes from the Scotland side beaten 3-0 by Brazil at the World Cup, handing debuts to Robbie Ure and Stephen Welsh.
McBurnie was also restored to the starting XI for the first time in five years as Scotland looked to make a positive start to their Nations League campaign.
However, the visitors were fortunate not to fall behind early on.
Andraz Sporar thought he had fired Slovenia in front when he found room inside the penalty area and lashed an effort into the top corner, only for the assistant referee’s flag to rule the effort out for offside.
Slovenia continued to cause problems as Scotland struggled to settle. Sporar then fired wide from close range after meeting Danijel Strum’s dangerous delivery, while Vanja Drkusic rattled the post with a header during another spell of home pressure.
Scotland had offered little as an attacking force for much of the first half, with Aaron Hickey’s blocked effort their first real attempt at goal after more than half an hour.
But they nearly found a breakthrough just before the break. Ure created space on the edge of the area and sent a low strike beyond Jan Oblak, only to see his effort come back off the post.
The interval appeared to bring a clear improvement from Scotland, who played with greater purpose and control in the second half.
McBurnie was presented with an excellent opportunity when he broke through on goal, but the forward was unable to take the ball around Oblak as the experienced Slovenia goalkeeper made an important save.
The Hull City striker then combined well with Gilmour shortly before the hour mark. Gilmour played a neat one-two to work space for himself inside the area, although his eventual strike was comfortably saved by Oblak.
Ure, who had impressed on his first Scotland appearance, was replaced by Kieron Bowie in the 66th minute. Bowie almost made an immediate impact when Welsh played him through, but Oblak was again equal to the effort. Scotland continued to press, and Gilmour later picked out Bowie on the edge of the box, only for the Sassuolo forward to drag his shot wide.
It was not the result Pocognoli would have wanted from his first match in charge, but Scotland’s response after half time offered encouragement ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Switzerland at Hampden.
After the game, Pocognoli admitted Scotland had struggled to adapt to Slovenia’s early approach but felt his side showed character before producing the performance he wanted in the second half.
“I think we had two games in the same game, but you can analyse both of them in a positive way.
“The first half was not what we expected in terms of structure. We were in between for the press and we were a little bit surprised by the formation of Slovenia.
“But at half-time we fixed this and you could see that the second half was much better.
“We produced what we wanted to show every minute, but in the first half we learned to stick together, defend the box, be resilient and be patient to change the game.
“In the second half, we had a game on the ball against a low block. We had a lot of good movement through the sides and through the lines, and we should have scored to be honest.
“The counter-press was good and the high line of the defence was good, just because the position of the players was better.”
Scotland will now turn their attention to Switzerland, with Pocognoli hoping his side can turn their encouraging second-half display in Slovenia into a first win of the Nations League campaign on Tuesday night.