Hill, 31, has been captaining the side in the absence of the injured Seb Dunbar for much of this season. He returned to starting action on Tuesday night against Ipswich Town XI in the Suffolk Premier Cup having missed three games after a concussion injury at St Ives Town.

“It feels good to be back,” Hill said.

“It is never nice to be off but I’m feeling a lot better now and ready for the busy Christmas period.”

The Blues, start that Christmas period this weekend with a trip to Bishop’s Stortford, before the big Boxing Day clash with Lowestoft Town (1pm) and then two away trips to Harborough Town on the 28th and Royston Town on New Year’s Day.

In a very tight Southern League Premier Central division, Leiston sit in 13th place, six points off the play-offs, but just two of the relegation places. Their last three league games however (all defeats) have been against teams in the top five.

“The boys have been playing well and this is just a slight blip in the season,” Hill added.

“We have quality all over the park and we will hopefully get back on track on Saturday. The mood in the team is positive, we have players coming back from injury and I feel we are in a strong position leading into a busy run of games.”

Leiston did get back to winning ways on Tuesday night against an Ipswich Town XI, winning 5-0 to put themselves into the semi-finals of the Suffolk Premier Cup. The other three sides still involved are Needham Market, Felixstowe & Walton and AFC Sudbury.

“It was a very professional performance from everyone on Tuesday,” Hill said. “It was good to see us being clinical and ruthless in front of goal and covert our five chances well.”

And that clinical streak was echoed by one of the goalscorers on Tuesday night, Ismael Fatadjo.

“We’ve been working hard after recent losses,” he said; “We scored some good goals against Ipswich, didn’t hesitate and put them in the back of the net.”