Burn's phone alerts him of a Whatsapp message. It's from Ian Miller, his former Darlington teammate and still a close friend.
"Mate, you still have a chance with England," read the message.
Burn replied: "I think my time has come and gone but I'll keep trying."
Miller was right, even if Burn would have to wait two-and-a-half more years until he received his maiden call-up. Miller sent Burn a screenshot of that conversation last week.
It's December, 2009. Torquay away. Burn's Darlington debut.
It was Craig Liddle who'd brought the Blyth-born defender to Darlington when he was just 17 and it was Liddle who would later convince Burn to sign professional terms with [Quakers](http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/darlington) rather than pursue a scholarship in the United States.
After joining [Darlington](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/darlington/), it didn't take long for Burn to turn heads.
"I was one of the older more experienced players at Darlo at the time," recalls Miller.
"We trained at Chester-le-Street across the pitches from the youth team. He'd already been noticed, this really blonde haired gangly player who almost looked too big.
"As soon as he got on that pitch, everything kind of clicked. He was never afraid to come over and ask questions. He always wanted to know what he could be doing better.
"Lids being his coach, a defender, his door was always open for him. Dan would always come over and ask questions and ask if he could join in with extras after training. It was everything you wanted from a young, hungry player.
"Dan turned up to training in a battered old blue Peugeot 206. There was no arrogance or edge to him, but you could tell that he wanted to get the absolute best out of himself every single day."
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A picture of that blue Peugeot reappeared on social media only a couple of years ago. It was covered in tree branches, Burn standing alongside it in his Darlington training gear.
"It was just typical friendly football banter really," recalls Miller.
"Dan was out training with the youth team and myself and Tommy Wright covered his car in tree branches. But we did that because we knew he was the type of individual who'd laugh it off.
"There was mutual respect straight away and we could see this young man coming through wanted to work harder than anyone else."
After Burn's breakthrough, it didn't take long for word to get out and Premier League scouts were soon flocking to the Arena. Not that it had any impact on Burn.
"There was always the talk of who's watched him, this scout and that scout," says Miller.
"But you would not have known anything if you asked Dan. He just treated every game the same. He didn't do anything differently.
"He was that same Dan Burn and that's what makes people love him. All the Newcastle fans love him because he'll give 100% every game and leave everything on the pitch. He's always been that way."
It was Fulham who won the battle to sign Burn and the terms of the transfer meant he was unable to play in the 2011 FA Trophy final against Mansfield at Wembley.
"He'd played a number of games alongside me," said Miller.
"One of the last games was the Trophy semi final away at Gateshead which he played.
"He couldn't play in the final but he still did the warm-up on the pitch and didn't let anything get to him even though he was a young lad who'd helped a team get to Wembley and wasn't playing."
Miller is 41 now and living in Cambridge but he's still in close contact with Burn and couldn't be happier for his former teammate.
He says: "Of all the people in football I want to see be successful it's Dan Burn.
"I don't think I ever looked at Dan and thought he was going to be a world beater. But he has a great size, he's left sided, he has a great engine on him. And he has the best attitude you'll find in football.
"Because of those four things he escalated his career from that level to the top. If you asked him if he was technically brilliant, he'd be honest and say absolutely not. But if I'm a young player do I want to come up against Dan Burn? Or mark him on set pieces? Or have a 50-50 against him? Absolutely not.
"He's really honed his skills, looked at what he's good at and accelerated those skills while working on his weaknesses.
"He really does epitomise everything that young footballers need to look up to and watch.
"He's fully devoted to being the best version of himself and he will carry players around him. Everything that you want, if I'm a manager, he's the type of player I want to sign.
"I don't think the apple falls too far from the tree. Even at Darlo, his parents were really supportive from those early days. I can't imagine the pride they must be feeling now.
"Dan is the perfect role model. You can have all the ability in the world and go from Under-7s to Under-21s in an academy but if you don't have that hunger and desire and attitude to outwork everyone else, you are not going to achieve in the game.”