"I told him not to post it!" — Josh Brownhill on the Sammie Szmodics Instagram post that caused quite a stir!

Josh Brownhill joked that he could no longer be friends with Sammie Szmodics after the Blackburn Rovers midfielder caused controversy by posting a picture of the pair on social media.

The former Bristol City team-mates have been close friends since spending the first half of the 2019-20 season together at Ashton Gate during Lee Johnson's reign.

The Irishman, who was Colchester United's Young Player of the Year award-winner in 2015, signed from the U's in the summer before Brownhill got his move to the Premier League with the Clarets seven months later.

That gave the Burnley midfielder time to research the East Lancashire rivalry, and understand its relevance in these parts, while Szmodics has had less time to digest the history having made the switch from Peterborough United to Ewood Park in the summer.

After the Instagram post caused somewhat of a backlash, Brownhill quipped: "I told him not to post it! Sammie [Szmodics] is a really good friend of mine, one of my best friends in football, and when he signed for Blackburn I was delighted for him, but I told him he'd gone to the wrong side. I told him that we could no longer be friends.

"I understand it, I've been around here for a few years now, I understand how big the rivalry is and he obviously realised really quickly that it's a big rivalry. We're both excited to play, for me I want to get the bragging rights, so when that day comes our friendship goes out of the window.

"He was [surprised by the reaction]. He didn't really understand how passionate fans are, but he quickly realised that they don't want to see that. As much as we're friends, I get on really well with his family, and our girlfriends get along, but he now fully understands. He won't be posting again! We can't be friends anymore."

Brownhill, who has nine goal contributions for Burnley this season, played alongside Szmodics on three occasions for the Robins, including a defeat at the hands of Rovers almost three years ago.

But this will be the first time the pair have been on opposite sides. With more than just three points at stake, the 26-year-old Manchester City supporter said: "We've left it while the game is coming up because you don't want to talk about it. We're excited for the day.

"I'm happy he got the move he deserved because he's a really good player, but I'm hoping on the day he doesn't perform to his maximum and we can overrun him. I haven't spoken to him leading up to the game, but I'll speak to him afterwards.

"If there's a 50/50 there between myself and him I'm sure I'll be going through with it and he will be as well. We'll catch up further down the line when the emotions have settled down and hopefully I'm on the right side."