INTERVIEW: MARK BURKE [HITCHIN TOWN]

Hitchin Town's boss Mark Burke took time out of his busy schedule during pre-season to answer a few questions for us here at Under The Prem.

How do you feel last season went for the club?

It was my first season in charge and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had set a target of improving our league position from the previous season and whilst we finished in 13th place the same as the previous year, our overall points tally and goal difference were better. I class that as an improvement and therefore successfully achieving my target. We had numerous players starting their first full season competing at this level and they performed well for the majority of the time but just lacked a little consistency to achieve a top 10 finish. However, I was pleased with the fact we finished the season with a positive goal difference and not one team were able to beat us by more than a 2 goal margin.

What were some of the highs and lows of the 2013/14 campaign for you personally?

The highs included beating League Champions Hemel Hempstead on the opening day of the season, away wins at Chesham United, Hungerford Town and Corby Town. The home wins against Cambridge City and St Neots. Although we lost the Herts Charity Cup Final to Bishops Stortford on penalties I was pleased with our performance on the night and the beating of St Albans City away from home in the semi-finals. Fortunately, there were not too many lows throughout the season just the fact we were knocked out of both the FA Cup and FA Trophy at the first hurdle.

How has pre-season gone for you on a personal level so far?

Last year was my first pre-season and I learned a lot from it. I have been able to tailor this year’s pre-season schedule using the knowledge I gained last year and I am happy with the way things are going at the moment.

We're quickly approaching the 2014/15 kick-off, what are you looking forward to most this season?

The start! I can’t wait to get going and I am hoping we can use last season’s performances as a springboard to better things this year. I have retained the majority of last season’s squad and I have been able to add a couple of new players to strengthen the group. So hopefully we can break into the top 10 although I know this is going to be difficult with lots of good quality teams competing in the league this year.