CHRIS Burke has recovered from the shock of Steve Clarke arriving as Kilmarnock boss to enjoy the improvement at the Rugby Park club.

The former West Brom boss also worked as assistant to Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, Gianfranco Zola at West Ham and Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool, among other posts, and since taking over Killie in October it has mostly been an upward curve for the Ayrshire side.

The 5-1 win over Partick Thistle was Kilmarnock’s biggest league win since 2006 and took the home side into eighth place with Burke claiming: “We knew it was going to come and what a way to do it.”

Ahead of the trip to Ross County tonight, the 34-year-old winger spoke glowingly of Clarke.

He said: “Trust me, when we heard he was coming, I think everybody was a little bit shocked and happy and excited to work with someone of his calibre.

“He has managed in the Premier League and worked with the top managers in the world.

“Different managers bring different ideas and everyone learns until the day they retire.

“But you can’t just think we are doing well and take the foot off the gas, we need to capitalise on it.

“So we are looking to make sure it is three wins in a row.”