Liam Burns insists being handed the skipper’s armband is not going to change him as a player after he was chosen as club captain for the 2010 season by Ian Foster on Friday afternoon. It will be the club’s third different captain in the space of 18 months after Aidan Lynch led John Gill’s three-year reign and Thomas Heary was chosen by Seán Connor at the start of last season.

Experience key
“Ian told me this afternoon,” Burns told dundalkfc.com. “I don’t think it will change me as a player, but it’s always nice to be captain of the club. The manager has a bit of faith in me and hopefully I can use my bit of experience to pass on to the younger lads. There are a few experienced players here, like Neale Fenn and JJ Melligan. As I said, it’s not going to change me as a player or a person – I’m still going to be vocal. But, at the end of the day, it’s nice being captain when you’re lifting a bit of silverware, and hopefully at the end of the season that will be my main aim.

‘Real test’
“We’re putting together a good squad here,” he added after Dundalk completed their unbeaten pre-season schedule in Monaghan on Friday. “JJ Melligan has come in who has played quite a few games in England. Faz (Kudozovic), who I’ve played with at Sligo, has come in as well. He’s an excellent player, he’s a very good pro off the pitch too, and he’ll add a lot to our team. Pre-season is about getting our fitness, but it’s always nice to get into good habits, and the game next Friday is the main one. It’s getting into habits – winning is a habit and losing is a habit, and keeping clean sheets is a habit. I think we’ve looked good in pre-season but the real test will be next Friday when the league starts.”

Bray threat
Dundalk kick-off their league campaign at Bray Wanderers who they defeated 3-1 in a pre-season friendly two weeks ago, but Burns says that that result will “count for nothing” when his side make the short trip south next Friday. “Obviously, you want to get off to a good start, and even though we played them earlier on in pre-season that will count for nothing,” he said. “I think with some of the players that they played they maybe had a feeling they were going to be in the league, so we can’t take anything for granted. We’ve got to go down there and work our socks off. We know it’s going to be a hard game.”

Top-three aim
Commenting on Dundalk’s chances of challenging this year, Burns agreed with the general view that Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers will be leading the pack, but insists that the race for third spot is wide open. “The two main teams are Bohs and Shams,” he said. “I think Bohs are the team to beat this year if you look at the quality they’ve added, but we just want to improve from last year and I think that’s being realistic. Anyone else can fight out the rest, and, hopefully, we’ll be up there.”

Heary tribute
On a final note, Burns dispelled rumours that he turned down the captain’s job last year and paid tribute to his predecessor Thomas Heary. “No, I didn’t turn it down,” he said. “I think Seán had a rough idea who he wanted to be captain. That was fine by me. As I said, the skipper’s armband isn’t going to change me as a player or a person. I’m still going to be vocal on the pitch and in the changing room. I never turned it down last year. It was just Seán’s decision, and I agree with him. I think last year Thomas Heary done a fantastic job as skipper. Nobody had any complaints and he had the upmost respect from the players in the changing room.”