Hitchin Town Mark Burke may have been paraphrasing George Harrison but he insists that his young side will come good with patience and time.

They fell to a 2-0 defeat at Top Field against near neighbours Royston Town, their third reverse in four Southern League Premier Division Central games.

But the Canaries boss saw enough positive signs from his squad to convince him they are still on the right track.

He said: "I’ve got a young team and we have to build. They have to gain their experience and there is going to be ups and downs and bumps in the road.

"We’re in a little dip at the moment but I have got a lot of belief in this group.

"They are young and enthusiastic and have a lot of ability and if we stick together, we’ll be fine.

"I’ve done it before and so many have moved on and up.

"You’ve just got to bear with us and be patient."

MORE: Reaction from Royston Town manager Steve Castle

The bank holiday clash, played out in front of 735, was decided by goals by former Canary Isaac Galliford and Matt Bateman.

The first of them from the old boy on 37 minutes was the crucial moment for Burke.

He said: "We started OK. It was fairly even in the first half but then they get the first goal, which was disappointing as it was a mistake from us and that gives them confidence and dents ours.

"And it happens all the time doesn’t it, all players come back to haunt you and Isaac certainly did there. He took his goal well and it put us on the back foot.

"The positives were that we did keep going until the end, we didn’t give up, and we did try to play football.

"We took it to them and I was really pleased with the way we finished.

"We have to take that positivity into the next game because we did create some chances and we did play some good football, a lot more than we did in the previous 80 minutes.

That next game is against Biggleswade Town in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Burke added: "It’s another derby and we’re looking forward to it. Hopefully we can use that to kick-start our season."