Philip Lowry: Crusaders have to put Billy Joe Burns disappointment behind them and focus on retaining Irish Cup crown

Burns has five Irish Cup winners medals – three from his six-year spell with Linfield before adding another two at Seaview since arriving in 2014 – but will be relying on his teammates at Windsor Park to add a sixth to an impressive collection due to suspension.

The 34-year-old was shown a straight red card against Larne for throwing a ball that hit defender Shaun Want and with the club’s appeal being rejected by the Irish FA, Burns was forced to serve a three-match ban – the last of which is the showpiece decider with Ballymena.

"You have to look at it in the cold light of day - Billy Joe isn't playing,” said Lowry. "As big a mate as he is and as good a player as he is, it's done and dusted now and you can't turn back the clock.

"He won't be here so we will move on.

"One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, so there will be that added incentive where players will want to do it for Billy.

"However, you don't need any more incentive when it comes to an Irish Cup final and being the holders, we will do everything in our power to try and retain the trophy.

"We are all gutted for BJ but as I said he's long in the tooth and we're long in the tooth now that you can't magically bring him back to play and we will have to move on without him.”

Lowry will undoubtedly have a huge role to play for Crusaders with the midfield goal machine enjoying the best season of his career to date, netting 21 times across competitions for Stephen Baxter’s men.

The 33-year-old has also won this competition five times – sharing the field with Burns in each of those triumphs – and says he would happily trade all his goals up to this point in exchange for another medal.

"A successful season for me is silverware and we sort of fell off in the league but we performed admirably with the number of injuries and suspensions to key men,” he added. "The Irish Cup is the big one, it's the one cup competition that means so much to the players, fans and it's always a fantastic occasion.

"It would round off a great season for us if we can turn over Ballymena but we know it'll be a difficult game.”