Blackburn Rovers midfielder now understands magnitude of East Lancashire derby after meeting with Burnley ace

The 27-year-old, who moved to Ewood Park from Peterborough United in the summer, learned the importance of the rivalry after fans reacted to a social media post.

Colchester United's Young Player of the Year award-winner in 2015, who scored the winner against Hull City at the weekend, was blown away by the response to a picture he shared of him alongside Burnley midfielder Josh Brownhill.

The pair only played three times together for Bristol City during the 2019/20 campaign, including a defeat at the hands of Rovers almost three years ago, but they became close friends during their time at Ashton Gate.

They'll both likely be involved when the Championship's current top two meet at Turf Moor next month, just ahead of the start of the World Cup in Qatar.

“I didn’t totally understand it," admitted Szmodics, when speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph. "I knew it was a derby, but there are so many teams up north that I didn’t really realise (how much).

“I posted a photo before of me with one of my friends, Josh Brownhill, who plays for them and not really understanding the rivalry.

“It’s nice to come here and say that it doesn’t change my attitude towards it (the game), if anything it makes me want to smash them more because he’s my mate.”

With the Clarets unbeaten against Rovers in seven attempts, winning four of those meetings on the bounce, Szmodics continued: “It’s a game we’re looking forward to.

“We can’t influence other games, we just have to do our job and keep putting points on the board.

“We’re five games away from the halfway mark in the season and we’re doing well, we just need to keep it going.”