Stoke City striker Saido Berahino has highlighted his determination to help his country Burundi qualify for major tournaments in the coming years.

In a report by BBC Sport, the former West Brom striker highlighted how keen he is to help his country after making the commitment to play for the African nation on a regular basis.

"We have a long way to get there but I believe with this team, what I have seen so far, we have young and hungry players and we managed to show that against Gabon.

"The unity is there. We fought very hard against Gabon who had a tremendous amount of talent on the pitch. They had great players (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang, (Mario) Lemina and we managed to compete against them so it was big for us to come away from there with a point to build our confidence." added Berahino.

"Now we have two important games both against Mali, home and away. If we manage to get a point away there or beat them, it will be massive steps for us to qualify,"

The striker has had a torrid time in the last few years as he struggled for form during a woeful patch which saw him fail to hit the net in two years, however, he has since found his golden touch again for both club and country, and is hoping to progress this season.

"As everybody knows, I reached a tough patch in my career and I thought that playing for my country will give me a different type of challenge and give me a different type of responsibility." Berahino added.

Stoke have begun to pick up in the last few weeks of the season after a poor start, and manager Gary Rowett will be hoping Berahino can keep on the goal trail between now and the end of the season.

Potters fans, what do you think? Can Berahino keep his form up all season? Let us know in the comments!