JOHNSTONE Burgh assistant manager David Hill insists he’ll be happy to return to his regular role this weekend after taking charge for the team’s impressive win at Carluke Rovers on Saturday.

Hill was at the helm for the 6-1 victory as boss Jamie McKim missed out after being told to self-isolate as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

And things got off to a shaky start as the hosts took the lead when Dom Boland glanced the ball into his own net.

However, even though they were playing against a strong wind, Burgh fought back to secure a half-time lead through close-range efforts from Ricky McArthur and Nathan Marriott.

A three-minute blitz at the start of the second half put the game out of Carluke’s reach, with David Collins making it 3-1 with the pick of the goals, courtesy of a quick turn and accurate finish from just inside the penalty area.

Marriott then tapped home his second and Burgh’s fourth a minute later before Hill’s side won the ball straight from kick-off and McArthur made no mistake when through on goal.

With less than five minutes remaining, Marriott completed his hat-trick as he latched on to a rebound.

Hill said that, while McKim wasn’t at the John Cumming Stadium in person, his presence was still felt by the Burgh players.

“Jamie and I had arranged a call for 1.50pm to find out how the warm-up had gone and what kind of mood the boys were in but I then looked at my phone about 20 minutes into the game and I had three missed calls from him,” Hill told Gazette Sport.

“He’s very hands on, which is great. We had a Zoom call on the Saturday morning with the squad and the coaches and we always do the same warm-up before games, so nothing really changed in that respect.

“Jamie will now be back in charge and I’ll be behind him, eating my Jaffa Cakes again, and I’m quite happy with that.”

Hill also praised the Burgh players for coping well with dreadful weather conditions on Saturday.

And he knows McKim will be expecting the same impressive standard from his team when they face Wishaw on Saturday.

Hill said: “Before the game, we said to the boys just to hang in if we were against the wind and give ourselves a chance in the second half, so we didn’t really expect to be 2-1 up.

“I’ve set the bar high for Jamie for next week.”