He may not have endured the smoothest introduction to a new club, but Bobby Burns has made an immediate impact with the Newcastle Jets.
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Left-back Burns arrived at the A-League club from Scotland this week and immediately joined the side for the trip to Dubbo ahead of Saturday's pre-season meeting with Sydney FC.
The Northern Ireland under 21 international, on loan at Newcastle from Scottish club Hearts, was put through his paces during training at Apex Oval on Friday and received plenty of instructions and feedback from the coaching staff there.
"He said he was a little tired and jet-lagged and obviously a four-and-a-half hour bus drive doesn't help that but he's young and fit and eager to get stuck in," captain Nigel Boogaard told the Daily Liberal after the training session.
"Hopefully he can contribute. Where he's come from, it's a great standard and from what we've seen so far he's exciting.
"He adds more depth to the squad which is good and important. Those squads which are able to cope with the busy periods and injury worries are the ones who make finals at the end of the year."
Boogaard was also pleased with his own efforts as he ramps up his return from off-season knee surgery.
The centre-back has proven himself one of the most reliable defenders in the A-League across a number of years, and this week marked his second trip to Dubbo having previously played at Apex Oval as youngster with the Central Coast Mariners in 2009.
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Saturday's match is set to be the skipper's first appearance on the field this pre-season and he's eager to make the most of it with the season proper now less than a month away.
"It's not too bad. It's obviously been a little longer than I would have liked to get back into it but tomorrow will be my first competitive hit-out," Boogaard said.
"It will be good to be back on the park because I'm not a good spectator. It's better out there.
"I just need some minutes now to get up to game speed and for that round one game against the Mariners I'm good to go."