Former Hearts and Dunfermline Athletic striker Andy Kirk is relishing the opportunity to return to football after landing a role as assistant manager of Championship club Raith Rovers. The 11-times capped former Northern Ireland international enjoyed a five-year spell at Tynecastle between 1999 and 2004 and scored 35 goals in 133 appearances during that time. After spending time in England with Boston United, Northampton Town and Yeovil Town, Kirk brought down the curtain on his career with Dunfermline and Alloa Athletic in 2014. Kirk briefly returned to Hearts as joint-interim manager in 2016 and spent time in charge of Hearts Women four years later. A two-year reign at Brechin City followed before he worked as caretaker manager at St Johnstone after working as assistant manager under Craig Levein. After leaving his role at St Johnstone in June, Kirk has made a quickfire return to the dugout after he was appointed as assistant manager and he will work alongside former Celtic and Dundee United midfielder Barry Robson, who has been in charge at Stark’s Park since December last year. Rovers ended last season in fifth place in the second tier and narrowly missed out on a place in the players - but they have made a positive start to the summer with the additions of winger Richard Chin, full-back Jai Rowe and goalkeeping duo Aidan Glavin and Josh Rae. Kirk became the first off-field arrival earlier this month and the former Hearts man has been impressed with what he has witnessed from the squad he will work with during the new season. He told the club website: “Obviously we’ve only been in for a couple of days with the players but we were in last week with the staff getting everything organised and getting ready. I am delighted to be here and (I am) excited to get started. “I’ve been through it (fitness tests) as a player and it’s just about getting things right for them from day one. I’ve been very, very impressed with what I’ve seen, the players look really fit, they’ve obviously worked hard over the close-season and they look quite strong so I am quite excited too seeing where we can go with the group. “It’s football, it’s in my blood, it’s what I’ve done my whole life and getting the chance to work with Barry and John, it excites me as well. The project they are trying to push through here is another factor. The whole thing excites me and I am really looking forward to getting right into the crux of it.” Your next Hearts read: Tony Bloom Hearts investment proposal takes latest step as timeline for completion emerges