Midfield veteran Scott Burns was one of Collingwood’s best players against the Kangaroos on Friday night, and he spoke to CTV about the match and the remainder of the pre-season.Burns gathered 29 possessions and led the way for a young Magpies side that was missing many regular senior players, but put up a strong fight after falling behind by five goals at quarter time against a near full-strength Kangaroos line-up.“A lot of young fellas were getting their first taste of it, and a lot of other guys who hadn’t played too much that were getting a little bit more experience, but it’s good for the long-term of the club to play as many of the young guys as we can in this sort of competition”, Burns told CTV after the match.“You could probably tell a little bit early on that there were a few guys that were a little bit nervous, and maybe made a few mistakes they generally wouldn’t if they were playing at Williamstown or where they’ve come from before.“So look, we’ve got to keep exposing them to this sort of pressure and this standard, and the more chances or the more time they can spend out in the middle against these quality teams, the better they’ll be in the long run.”Burns singled out a number of young players who he thinks put in a good showing against the Kangaroos, and who will be part of the future for Collingwood.“Penders (Scott Pendlebury) was pretty good, he can hopefully play just about the whole year in the midfield now on and off all the time. He had a taste of it last year, and certainly showed in the games he played last year he’s capable”, Burns added.“Cooky (Ryan Cook) is good, if he just keeps running, he’s one of our best runners, and if he can keep running as hard as he can on that half forward flank, I think he can cause a lot of headaches for the opposition. I thought Thommo (Dale Thomas) wasn’t too bad tonight either, I thought Thommo went ok.Collingwood will now take on St Kilda in a regional challenge match at MC Labour Park in Carlton this Friday 2 March at 4.30pm.To watch the full Scott Burns interview on CTV – FREE – please click on the relevant related link within this article.