McDermott's only previous visit to Turf Moor as Reading manager ended in a 4-0 win for the Royals just a week short of a year ago and, as he prepared his side for this weekend's game, he said: "We got that performance early in the season, we made a subtle change to the way we played and got a convincing win."
A year on and he's looking for another good result after the enforced break. "It seems like a long time since the last game," he said. "We're just glad the two weeks are over and we can get on and play football.
"I've seen Burnley's last three games on DVD. They've got seven points from nine and they are a decent side. Eddie has got them going, they are getting results and have got good players. I like the big grounds, they make a lot of noise at Burnley and we're looking forward to it."
McDermott will come up against Andre Amougou tomorrow and he's looking forward to it. "He's a really lovely fella," McDermott said of Burnley's former Reading defender. "He rang me before the play off final to wish us well.
"I got on really well with him and his wife. He's had a couple of misdemeanours in the Cup of Nations and the play-off semi-final, but that is not him as a character. He's a good guy, a good player and I really got on well with him."
Howe, like McDermott is pleased that the break is over and said, as he looked forward to the game: "Hopefully we can carry on where we left off."
"We left off with a 1-0 win at Millwall two weeks ago and of that he said: "It was a good dogged performance against Millwall. It wasn't a fantastic spectacle but we got the result and got the job done and now we return to Turf Moor and we want to produce a performance similar to the one against Nottingham Forest.
"We are on a good run. Let's hope we come out firing and there are no ill effects from that break and we are not sluggish in any way. I don't see why we should be. The lads have trained well and we are looking forward to the game.
"We will be looking for a better performance than we gave against Middlesbrough in our last comeback game from the break. Fingers crossed we have learned our lessons from that and we go into this game and perform from the first minute.
"We feel we are getting that winning mentality slowly and surely. Confidence and winning games is a fantastic thing for any footballer and hopefully we are beginning to get that feeling as well. Last year they did the double over us so we will be keen to try and put that straight."