THE SYDNEY Swans may have ultimately failed the test put to them by Collingwood on Friday night, but Ben McGlynn was upbeat about the manner in which his team fought back into the contest after a poor start.

The Swans trailed by 29 points late in the first term, but McGlynn was pleased with the pressure his side was able to exert on the Pies after quarter-time.

"Our tackle count was down and we made a point of that at the first break. We were able to come out and get after them which really got us back into the game," McGlynn said.

"John [Longmire] was pretty calm at quarter-time. We're all still learning. This period of the NAB Cup is all about getting the game plan right.

"You don't want to lose games ever, but you want to take away a few positives at this time of the year. There were some good signs from some of the younger players in our group, so we've just got to keep improving toward round one.

"It was an excellent test for us at this time of the year. I think the boys will really take a lot of positives out of it in terms of matching them for three quarters."

After a strong summer on the training track McGlynn is determined to repeat the strong early-season form of last year which saw him boot five goals against Adelaide in round two. 

He's on target to achieve that goal on Friday night's showing with his lively 22-possession, two-goal performance evidence the horror facial fracture he suffered against Fremantle in round 20 of last season is well behind him.

"It was really disappointing to miss a bit of footy with that injury, but I'm pretty confident with it now," he said.

"It's healed well. I've had a good summer on the track and it doesn't play on my mind at all."