Midfielder Jones will control his emotions in East Lancs derby

The 30-year-old, who has tasted a number of Midlands rivalries for Derby and Wolves, is readying himself for a fourth crack at the East Lancashire derby having featured for Rovers in the 1-1 draw at Ewood Park in 2013.

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The former Manchester United trainee, who had a loan spell at Preston North End earlier in his career, also played in the stalemate at Turf Moor six months later as well as the 2-1 triumph in March last year when the Clarets brought a 35-year wait for a win over their rivals to an end.

David Jones played against the Clarets for Blackburn in 2013

“We’ll be looking forward to it and treating it as another game,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere and one of the fiercest rivalries I’ve been involved in in football. It’s a big game.

“We’ve got some experienced players and we’re used to it. We’ve played them before and been involved in big games so it won’t be any different.

“We do treat it as any other game with the approach and things we want to do in the game, but it’s human nature to have that heightened emotion in the game, as it is with fans.

“You’ve got to control it and harness it to work in your favour and the enthusiasm to play and put a performance on. You have to play the game and not the occasion.”

Jones added: “Starting way back I went on loan to a Dutch club and NEC v Vitesse was a big one and quite hated; Derby-Forest; Wolves-West Brom; Wolves-Birmingham - but Burnley-Blackburn is definitely up there. There’s quite a bit of edge to it.

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“They’re a good club with a good manager and good players so they’ll be up for it.

“It will be down to on the day who can cope with the occasion.”

• Match report: Blackburn Rovers 1, Burnley 2