Hitchin Town are a club on the up after beating Harpenden Town 5-0 at Top Field on Thursday evening.

The victory was the club's seventh successive win on the bounce as the Canaries gear up for the new season – but first they face National League side Barnet on Saturday.

The club are moving in the right direction after phenomenal support from their crowdfunding campaign saw them raise more than £40k in a matter of days to help with ground improvements.

Hitchin Nub News caught up with boss Mark Burke after the Harpenden win to have a chat.

Read on for the transcript of his interview

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HNN: Another good win, seven on the bounce now?

Mark Burke: 'Pre-season is all about performances rather than results – but it was good to win against Harpenden. It's an added bonus if you can get a good performance and a good result.

It's a confidence booster to score five goals and keep a clean sheet. We couldn't ask for much more.

I'm a bit worried it's going too well at the moment as that was our seven successive win. I'm hoping the wheels don't fall off. I don't think they will, we're in a really good place, confidence is high and we're really looking forward to our game against Barnet from the National League on Saturday.

HNN: You and the boys must be looking forward to the new season?

Mark Burke: We're building ourselves up to the new league season which starts a week on Saturday. That's what it's all about.

We want to hit the ground running against Alvechurch on Saturday, September 19. If we can get off to a good start that would be great.

A poor start is what we've been up against for the last two years and it hasn't been easy. In previous years when we've done well we've had good starts.

We're going in the right direction and keeping our feet on the ground. We're not getting carried away. It's all positive at the moment which is great.

HNN: First game back at Top Field for 185 days…

Mark Burke: It's nice to be back home. It's nice to have the fans in again here at Top Field.

Everyone has mucked in and is getting the place back together again. It's great to be back, and we're looking forward to our next game on Saturday against Barnet.

HNN: A word on the incredible response to the crowdfunding campaign...

Mark Burke: It's been tremendous. The support we've had from all quarters of the Hitchin community has been amazing. People who have had nothing to do with the club have responded and I'd like to thank everyone for their support and for their donations.

Their support has literally saved us. Without their support to help get Top Field up to standard, the ground grading would have relegated us - which would have been a hard pill to swallow.

So it's been great to secure the funds and do the work to upgrade our ground and hopefully we can kick on from their on and off the pitch.

Hopefully we can follow up the result against Harpenden with a decent performance and result against Barnet on Saturday.

Read Hitchin Nub News for all the latest on the Canaries