Dartford boss Tony Burman has backed forward Danny Mills.

The on-loan Ebbsfleet striker has come in for criticism from some Darts supporters after netting only once in seven games while keeping leading scorer Alfie Pavey out of the team.

But Burman would rather have Mills in his line-up than see him face the Darts for one of their rivals.

“I’d like to have him here rather than being at another club,” said Burman. “The whole division wants to sign him so we can’t be wrong, can we? I’d like him to stay.

“He’s here for another month and I’m pleased that we’ve got him.

“I’d never met him before we had a chat. Ebbsfleet put a circular out about Danny Mills so when a player of that calibre comes up I wanted to be involved and say he could be a good addition to our squad.

“I know for a fact that other teams in our league think he’d be a good addition to their squads.”

Mills’ loan runs out later this month but he appears surplus to requirements at Stonebridge Road and Darts are in pole position to keep him longer.

“We’ve got him because he wanted to come here,” added Burman. “I can’t speak highly enough of him.

“We got the opportunity to take him on loan for a couple of months and we did that.

“It’s (all about) competition for places, we know that. We’ll talk at the end of the month and see what happens but at the moment I’m just enjoying having him around.”

Read the full story in Thursday's Dartford Messenger