FORMER Rosyth manager Brian Muirhead has admitted he "made mistakes" towards the end of his tenure, following his return to the game.

The ex-Glenrothes and Aberdour Amateurs coach, who took charge in 2018, left the Rec last month five games into the East of Scotland League, First Division, Conference A season.

Having taken the club to the cusp of junior football's East Region South Division title before COVID-19 saw the 2019/20 season scrapped in March of last year, and led the club into the senior pyramid for the first time, he departed having felt it was "time for a change".

Russell Craig and Dean Ogg, part of the coaching team, took over as co-managers and now Muirhead has returned to football with Conference B side Lochgelly Albert.

After revealing that he had received an offer from friend, Craig Ness, to join him at Kirkcaldy and Dysart at his number two, Muirhead admitted that not having to come up against Rosyth so soon – they and Kirkcaldy are in the same division – was one factor in his decision to turn that down in favour of taking the reigns at Gardiner's Park.

"I had three years there and I enjoyed every minute of it," he said of his time at Rosyth.

"I still say that one of the best experiences was against Pollok in the last 32 of the Scottish (Junior Cup, where Rosyth lost 8-2 in the last 16 in 2019).

"I made mistakes, everybody does, and I made a few towards the end that I couldn't rectify. I've learned from them.

"It was a head-turner (the Lochgelly offer) but I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

"Probably what Lochgelly needed is almost a mirror image of what we had at Rosyth.

"I was 95 per cent certain to go to Kirkcaldy but there was something about the Lochgelly thing that whetted my appetite. I felt I need to give it a crack. I'm not sure if I could go back to being a number two, or do it justice.

"A big thing was that Rosyth are not in that division. I've got too many friends and memories there and, the fact they're not in that league, I quite like that. It was a factor."

Muirhead will, however, come up against Oakley United  in Conference B.