There was a pause as he pondered the question but the answer about whether Lewwis Spence is enjoying the caretaker manager role at Hornchurch soon came - and it was a firm yes.

The 36-year-old was handed the reins in a bit of a co-operative following the departure of Steve Morison to Sutton United.

But he has been pleasantly surprised at what has followed, even if a lot of it has taken him by surprise.

"You know what, I am enjoying it," said the midfielder, skipper of Hornchurch's famous FA Trophy win in.

"It's given me a different focus and a different way to look at things. 

"As a player, as long as you have prepared right the night before a game, you can just turn up. 

"You’ve got your equipment, you’ve got your boots and you can turn up and you’re not thinking about the tactical side of stuff or who's available. 

"It's given me a whole different type of focus to the build during a week. 

"You have to prepare for training, make sure the sessions are right for the boys. 

"You have to make sure you've spoken with your injured lads, seen where they're at, and checked in with the physio. 

"It’s been a real eye opener in terms of the level of work a manager at this level actually does. 

"But yeah, I've enjoyed it and it’s probably come at the right stage for me in terms of my age and when I’m thinking about what my future might look like. 

"It's given me a great insight and for me, there's no better club that I would want to do that with than Hornchurch."

He has been in charge for two games so far, a 2-2 draw with Carshalton Athletic and then 1-1 at Billericay Town.

Both were away and he was robbed of a home bow when Saturday's game with Concord Rangers was called off.

That means attention now turns to another away game, at Enfield Town.

Spence said: "We're fortunate that we’re training at West Ham’s academy at the moment so we were able to prepare as normal.

"We approached both sessions as we had done previously with all other fixtures. 

"When the game was off, it gave the boys an opportunity to rest and reflect and then we could build into [Tuesday’s] session when we were all back together 

"For us, it is the same approach as the group has had all year, and that's taking one game at a time and knowing the fixture we're going into. 

"Enfield are always challengers for the league and always pushing for a play-off spot or automatic promotion 

"It's no different this season. 

"We just need to make sure that we're ticking the boxes we need ticked and making sure we're focusing on ourselves and preparing as we need to. 

"For me it goes back to my first meeting that I had with Steve in pre-season during. 

"He was very aware that not a lot needed to be changed but there were tweaks that needed to happen to move the group forward. 

"He implemented his style and thought about what he wanted and that played out up until he left. 

"Now it's managing the group and supporting them with what they've already built on this season."