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Having already had to endure seeing the match decided by Besart Berisha's now infamous penalty, the Glory skipper then suffered the ignominy of initially being mistakenly overlooked for the Joe Marston Medal, before eventually receiving it underneath the stands at Suncorp Stadium accompanied by a shamefaced apology from FFA officials.

But while the media have been keen to bill Sunday's rematch between the two sides at Patersons Stadium as Glory's shot at revenge, Burns prefers to look to the future rather than reflect upon that agonising April afternoon in Queensland.

"I don't think you ever do completely forget something like that," said the 34-year-old.

"And we are using it as motivation, but the past is the past, it's a new season and we're looking forward to it.

"Brisbane are a fantastic team, but we had some great qualities to make the final and play as we did. We've got a wonderful opportunity this season to go one better and that's our focus."

And the man who spent spells in England with both Leeds and Barnsley also claimed that retaining their composure will be vital if he and his Glory team-mates are to prevail on Sunday.

"We've got to keep our heads and stick to our game plan," he said. "We know what we're capable of and we definitely know all their strengths.

"It's only one game at the start of the season, but we want to start on the right foot, put on a good display for a big crowd, get the three points and get our season on the roll straight away."

Glory's preparations for the showdown could hardly have gone any better.

Nine of their 10 pre-season friendlies ended in victories, all of their key men are fit and Burns even regards the extra expectation now surrounding the club as something to be relished rather than feared.

"I think there's a tremendous confidence in our group," he said. "You want to win things as a footballer and we've set the benchmark for ourselves now.

"There's a huge target on our backs and great expectations from our own fans, but it's something we're going to have to live with and it's a good position to be in.

"Each season we come to, we set our targets high and we want to go one better. It's going to be even harder this season and I think you'll see the competition is going to be even tighter.

"There have been some great players signed, but we know what qualities we have and what we have to do to get results and I'll be pushing as hard as I can to make sure that we lift that trophy at the end of the season."

In terms of his own form, Burns has featured prominently in most of Glory's pre-season successes, but with new arrival Nick Ward and promising youngster Brandon O'Neill also pressing to establish themselves as first-choice central midfielders, he remains under pressure to perform.

"Everyone is vying for positions all over the pitch," he said.

"We've had a great pre-season, we've rotated the squad in every game and everyone that has come in has done well. It's a healthy headache for Fergie (coach Ian Ferguson) to have.

"To make finals football you have to call upon everyone, we're all aware of that and we'll all be fighting for our places."

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