Stuart Zanone believes the arrival of new team-mate Darren Marsden is helping the ace striker continue his prolific form in front of goal.

Gary Mickelborough and new signing Michael Phillips provided the assists for his latest two in the 3-0 win over Deal – taking his tally to 12 in six games – but Zanone says Marsden’s arrival has taken some of the pressure off him.

The striker, who set a Southern Counties East League record by scoring in 10 straight games with former club Rochester United, said: “Paul (Chambers) allows me to play my game and tells me to stop coming deep.

“Darren’s come in and the amount of assists he has got for me is paying off. He’s a class player, always creating, running in little holes, popping up everywhere and trying to play one-twos."

Former Gillingham and Maidstone midfielder Phillips made his debut against Deal, following a short stay with Ryman League, Division 1 North strugglers Cray Wanderers.

Chambers said: “He can only get better by getting used to the players around him and with him and Darren in there, we have quality all over the pitch.”

Is it good enough to mount a sustained promotion bid in the New Year?

“We’ll just keep playing the way we are and see what happens. The teams above us have got to drop points, so we have to crack on and see where it takes us.” he said.

United are the away team at Homelands in their final game of the year against ground-sharers Canterbury City on Saturday (3pm).