Burns ready to hit the ground running

It has often been said that you should never go back, but that's something that Liam Burns didn't think twice about when Seán McCaffrey contacted with a view of returning.After being an ever-present for Bohemians in 2011, the 33-year-old centre-half was more than happy to sign back at the border venue after a one-year absence.

"Obviously things happened at Bohs. There wasn't going to be an offer there for me. There was a few other clubs interested but Seán rang me up and just by speaking to him he has got alot of plans for the future, I have heard alot of good things about him, the way he came across when I met him was fantastic. He has big plans for Dundalk and I want to be part of it.

Burns, who played under both Seán Connor and Ian Foster during his previous spell at Oriel, admitted that he is happy with the change of training and said he ''loves'' training each day now.

"It's been great. The change of manager, different coaching sessions and different ideas being put forward by John (Whyte) and Darius (Kierans) along with the way the manager wants to play football is great to be a part of. I am really enjoying it and I know the other lads are too"

During the 2010 season, the Belfast native spent four months on the sideline with various injuries, however, Burns said the pitch wasn't a factor and is confident that that injury spell is well and truly behind him.

"The pitch is fine. The last time I was here I was out for four months and the problem wasn't the pitch. I played through injury which just made it worse. We were top of the league at the time and I was playing on adrenalin. Sometimes I will be doing my own thing, training on my own. Certain days I will have my own training with the fitness coach. Hopefully I won't make the same mistakes again."

As the oldest member of a fairly youthful squad, Burns acknowledges that there are a lot of young players in the squad. However, he feels that the young players are more than good enough to compete in the league.

"There are alot of young players, but they are really good players. They can definitely play in the league as individuals and as a team. Alot of them have worked with Seán before and Seán knows what they are capable of but I think the way the club is structured it is geared up for long-term. I think over the years finances have really hit the clubs and if you look at most clubs now their young players are really coming through so if the club want to do well it has to from scratch with young players and build things up over three or four years."

While Burns is looking forward to the new season, he has not set any goals for himself and neither has the team.

"If I am being honest, I haven't really set out any goals for the season. I can't wait to start but I really haven't set targets. Neither has the team. It's a young squad, it's a whole new team. We know the capability of the team, if we hit the ground running we'll do well. We are just taking it one game at a time though."

Dundalk's new look side finish their pre-season preparations away to Newry City on Sunday before Burns and the rest of the 18 man strong squad travel to Monaghan next Friday in the season opener!