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Wes Burns believes Kieran McKenna and Craig Bellamy have “come out of the same football school” to educate him on the big stage.
Burns’ football journey is a heart-warming tale of overcoming rejection and operating in the lower leagues to fight his way to the top flight.
Having been shown the door by hometown club Cardiff at the age of 16, Burns had spells at Bristol City and Fleetwood before helping Ipswich to consecutive promotions and into the Premier League.
Burns won his ninth Wales cap in Friday’s 2-2 Nations League draw against Iceland in Reykjavik with his international career also falling into the slow-burner category.
The 29-year-old actually flew to France to join Wales’ Euro 2016 squad before numbers were trimmed and he failed to make the cut.
Burns said: “I’ve played in every league in English football from the Conference to the Premier League, so I’ve learned a few tricks along the way and that may help me as the season goes on.
“It’s been some journey. Maybe if I looked back three or four years ago I probably thought my dream of playing in the Premier League was near enough over.
“My time at Fleetwood was coming to an end and I was looking around for other clubs to kick-start my career again.”
“I walked into an Ipswich transition that could go one of two ways, it can keep going downwards or we were going to spike like we have done.
“Luckily I found a manager that got the best out of me and has propelled me back to where the club wanted to go – but not only that, has helped me achieve my dreams.”
Northern Irishman McKenna was the man who realised those dreams at club level, and now Bellamy has imposed the same front-foot style on Burns’ international team.
The Iceland game was the first time Burns had been part of a Bellamy camp as he missed the September double-header with Turkey and Montenegro through injury.
Burns said: “There’s so many similarities between how he wants to play here and what I usually play like for Ipswich.
“It seems like they are cut from the same cloth. It’s like they’ve come out of the same football school.
“Both want to play a good style of football, possession-based, try and score on every attack if possible.
“Then if we lose the ball there’s an instant reaction to win the ball back as quickly as possible and swarm teams.”
Burns has outstanding pace but has suffered from hamstring injuries through his career, the latest being against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.
He said: “I’ve seen a number of specialists, especially after my last time, to get on top of why it kept happening.
“There’s not really much I can do to prevent it. Sometimes with sprint athletes, even GB athletes, it happens.
“They run in a straight line and it can still happen. A game of football, there’s so many variations, someone can knock you off balance when you’re running at high speed.
“It can send stresses through your body that don’t usually go there, and that’s where injuries happen.
“I’m trying pilates every morning so hopefully that takes the edge off it. It’s tough because I’m not that flexible.”
