FORGET rivalry on the terraces at Turf Moor – it is more personal than that as brothers Matt and Joe Mills go head-to-head tomorrow when the Championship season kicks off.

Wanderers defender Matt, a summer signing from Leicester City, is preparing to meet his younger sibling Joe, on loan from Reading at Burnley, in the heat of the Lancashire derby.

It is not the first time the pair have met on the pitch, and the score is currently 1-1.

And Matt admits he has had his eye on the game since they were pitched together in the North West this summer.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he told The Bolton News . “Obviously over the summer you’re trying to get in the best physical shape you can for the game but in the back of your mind you know it’s Burnley and that we’ve got a chance of playing against each other.

“It’s clearly a huge game, even though we’ve faced each other a couple of times before. And once it starts, it’ll probably be just like any other one.

“But there’s that bit of banter before and afterwards. We don’t need any mind games, though. Both of us will want to go out and win.”

Mills won on his last visit to Turf Moor with Leicester last season but believes the Clarets will be among the front runners in the Championship after making some decent summer signings.

“I won there 3-1 last season, but they’ve made changes and they have got a decent squad there,” he said.

“It’s a feisty local derby to kick us off and Burnley certainly like to play football the right way.

“I actually played with Eddie (Howe) at Bournemouth and he’s a good guy who has taken his managerial philosophy from Sean O’Driscoll, who’s another one I have worked with in my time.

“it’s shaping up to be a good match because they like to get the ball down and so do we.”

Mills started last season as a £5million recruit for Leicester, who were red hot favourites for promotion under Sven-Goran Eriksson.

He starts the current campaign with a weight of expectation on Wanderers too - but believes the club can live up to their billing provided players and fans play their part.

“I think as players you have to handle it, so does the manager and his staff, but importantly I think the fans have to handle expectations a little bit,” he said.

“Last year with Leicester spending a lot of money and playing the likes of Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly it was massively hyped up. There were times we were drawing 0-0 and being booed off the pitch.

“We need to be in this journey together - fans and players - because there will be ups and downs throughout the season.

“But I’m confident we’re good enough to get promotion to the Premier League.”