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MAURICE Malpas has hailed the way Tommy Burns "approached the game" as football mourned the death of the former Scottish international.

Town boss Malpas was teammates with Burns for Scotland in the 1980s and locked horns with him many times for Dundee United against Celtic.

Burns, 51, originally contracted skin cancer in 2006 and lost his long-running battle with the disease today.

Malpas said: "I think the biggest thing about Tom was the way he went about his life. Football was way down the pecking order.

"Family came first in his life that is for sure and that is the way it should be. I think his faith was close behind that and he was also a really nice lad.

"He was very serious about his football but he was very witty as well and it was always a pleasure to be in his company.

"He was knowledgeable about the game in terms of coaching and it is sad how he went in the end."

Burns spent 15 years as a player at Parkhead and also managed the club for three seasons, as well as earning eight Scotland caps, with Malpas pitting his wits against him and with him on numerous occasions.

He said: "Tommy was in the Scotland squad with me a number of times. I remember when we played England at Wembley, he spent the entire 90 minutes warming up. He never got on but he was so keen to play.

"As a player he was a typical left footer. He was really comfortable on the ball, had a good engine, and was just a good player."

8:17pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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