STEVE Cotterill admits he was pleased to see Danny Coyne back in action as Burnley cruised to victory in Italy last night.

The Clarets romped to a 7-0 triumph against a Selectione Verona XI, the equivalent of an English Conference side.

Steve Jones smashed four goals, fellow strikers Andy Gray and Kyle Lafferty chalked up one apiece, while the Italians also put through their own net.

While the quality of finishing delighted Burnley boss Cotterill, the return of Coyne proved another major boost.

The Welsh goalkeeper earned a huge cheer from the 150 Clarets supporters at Burnley's Sport Hotel Veronello training base when he replaced Brian Jensen with 15 minutes left.

It was Coyne's first appearance since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury against Brighton last September.

While the 32-year-old stopper is still a major doubt for the start of the Championship season on August 5, Cotterill insists yesterday's return will do him the world of good.

"To be honest, I didn't have any intentions of playing him (Coyne)," revealed Cotterill.

"It was a little bit against the grain with me. I spoke to (goalkeeping coach) Phil Hughes on Monday and he said he thought Danny had kicked on in the last week and had had a big week.

"I listened to that, and because of the way the game unfolded, I didn't think Danny would have too much to do.

"On another day, with different opposition, we might not have thrown him in, but that 15 minutes will do Danny the power of good.

"We've just got to make sure he doesn't get overconfident and think he's ready before he is.

"But it was a pretty good sight to see him back on the pitch."

Cotterill was more than satisfied with his side's performance against the Italians.

Starting the game in hot conditions, Jones got the Clarets up and running with an early strike and racked up three more goals later on.

Cotterill added: "The finishing was very good, and hopefully we haven't used all those goals up.

"I felt a lot of our play was good. It stayed 1-0 for quite a long time really, but getting the second goal before half-time broke the back of them a little bit.

"I thought when the chances came, we took them.

"If you don't take those chances, it ends up being a tight game, so we have to say 'well done' to our lads.

"Jonesey probably could have had more. The two chances he missed were easier than the ones he scored.

"I thought whoever we would have played, the heat was going to be unbearable and it was, certainly in the first-half, although it did cool down a little bit."