‘I’m surprised we haven’t had food poisoning.’ Hearts’ Bobby Burns on pre-match cooking

The Hearts teenager and house-mate Alex Petkov have been left on their own whilst their landlords are in Australia, making mealtimes a challenge.

“I live with a family alongside Alex Petkov,” explained Burns. “The couple, Maggie and Ronnie Pagliarulo, have really helped me settle. But they’ve been in Australia the last month, so we’ve had to learn how to cook and clean, which has been interesting. I’m quite surprised we haven’t had food poisoning!

“Who is the better cook? I think we’re both as bad as each other. We’ve got a lot better, just following recipes. A lot of chicken and pasta. A chicken risotto – we’ve had some disasters.

“At the start, I was pretty terrible. Maggie did a few tutorials just before she went to Australia. So I know the basics. How to do pasta, rice and spuds.

“To be fair, we’ve both been cooking separately recently. We don’t trust each other! When she was here we would always eat together but now we’re cooking our own, because Alex loves loads of seafood. I like my chicken.

“It’s been a really good learning curve, on and off the pitch, learning to live away and be independent.

“Just having to pay your own bills, your car, phone, learning to cook. I’ve learned a lot from it.”