Bobby Burns: Glentoran's Boxing Day derby clash with Linfield is biggest game in the Irish League

The 24-year-old made his return from injury in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Dungannon Swifts after missing the previous seven league matches following a nasty collision with advertising boards at Seaview which left him requiring surgery on a broken jaw.

He was back eight weeks to the day from that incident – ahead of schedule with the surgeon initially predicting an absence of between two to three months – and the ex-Hearts star is hoping to create more special derby memories.

Burns scored three times in four Premiership meetings against their greatest rivals last season, including a brace in February’s 3-0 triumph, but has also experienced devastation when Eetu Vertainen netted a 90th minute winner on Boxing Day last year as the Blues won 2-1 at The Oval.

"We're used to playing in front of maybe a couple of thousand at matches and then you go to the Big Two on Tuesday and are playing in front of 10 or 11 thousand,” he said. “Both teams will be very much up for it and the Big Two derby on Boxing Day is by far the biggest game in the Irish League.

"I've been very lucky to play in two of them before and I can't wait. We have to try to enjoy it and hopefully get a positive result. We know the quality Linfield have and they are on a good run themselves.

"The bad memories last longer than the good ones. It was tough last year, but we responded well - we might have lost the next one but then went on a good run.

“We know if we can get a couple of good results this week that it can put you back in the picture, but we just have to focus on winning one game at a time.”

Burns knows Linfield will want to produce a major response from last month’s shock 4-0 defeat to Glentoran and says playing in matches like this was one of the main reasons he made the permanent move to east Belfast in 2021.

"They'll be well ready and I'm sure they'll be looking to have a response after the last game,” he added. “It's a massive game.

"It's one of the reasons you come to play for a club like Glentoran to play in Big Two derbies. I've been lucky to score and win in a couple, but I've also been on the receiving end.

"Last year hurt us badly losing in injury time to Vertainen's goal. We have something to put right there in the same way they do, so it's all set to be a good game and I'm glad I'm back in time for it."