Burns did not make it off the subs’ bench in Lisbon, but hopes to get some minutes in Wales’ second Nations League tie against Denmark in Copenhagen on Sunday, 27 October.
After the injury trauma that cut short his fairytale journey from League One to the Premier League with Ipswich, though, he is just pleased to be back on the international scene at all.
“You just have to remember you’re only one second away from disaster, really,” said Burns.
“That’s how I felt when the injury happened. You feel that could be the end of your career because you never know how bad the injury is initially.
“And when you’ve had surgery, and your knee’s like a balloon, you’re thinking ‘how on earth am I even going to walk again, never mind play’.
“Everything heals in time, though, and it was just about making sure I got the rehab right. The phone calls from Craig, knowing he had a similar injury when he was younger as a player, meant so much to me.”
Burns could have been playing Premier League football again this season, having helped Ipswich bounce straight back to the top flight in the 2025-26 campaign.
But the former Fleetwood winger chose instead to drop two divisions to join Leicester City, who have struggled to adapt to life in League One under former Swansea City boss Russell Martin.
“I could’ve done another year at Ipswich, and I was weighing up whether to finish the story of playing a full season in the Premier League (which injury deprived him of the previous time) – a level I’d worked so hard to get back to,” said Burns.
“But I also had to think about the longevity of my career, and in the end I took the option of a longer contract at Leicester and possibly recreating what I’d already done at Ipswich (back-to-back promotions).”
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