Charlie Sheringham admitted he had a point to prove after being axed by Dartford boss Alan Dowson.

The 34-year-old striker made one and scored one in the final half-hour to seal a 2-1 home win over Hampton in National League South on Saturday.

Sheringham was certainly a man on a mission, having been left out of the starting line-up following the FA Cup loss to Beckenham seven days earlier.

He scored in that game but questions were asked about Sheringham’s defensive role in that game, with the first goal coming after he was uncharacteristically caught out in his own penalty area.

“Obviously, I wasn’t too happy about not starting,” said Sheringham. “I thought I played quite well last week even though we lost.

“I was a bit gutted not to start and all you can do when you come on is to make an impact and I felt I did that by scoring and getting an assist.

“It did give me extra fire in the belly, maybe it’s good management from Dowse, he’ll probably say that. I definitely had a bee in my bonnet as such.

“I love scoring goals, I don’t think there’s a better feeling. I love scoring goals and I love scoring goals at Dartford, it’s a nice feeling.”

Sheringham is in his fourth spell with the Darts. It’s not quite unfinished business but he’s back at Princes Park after a successful year with Chelmsford.

His previous spell ended when the 2020/21 season was curtailed early, Sheringham having returned from a loan spell at Chelmsford.

“It wasn’t really a big decision,” said Sheringham. “Whenever I am asked to come here, I usually do. I’ve only turned down Dartford once before and that was to go higher, so I like coming back here.

“It was a funny stop-start season (in his last spell). I was in and out of the team, went out on loan and did really well, came back and scored a hat-trick on my first game back (against Billericay) and then the season finished early after that.

“I wasn’t actually asked or spoken to at the end of that season so I took that as not being wanted and signed for Chelmsford. It was quite abrupt; I wasn’t phoned so I started to make the phone calls myself.

“I like to think I’m good enough (for this level). I still think I’ve got something to offer and can score goals. It’s a little bit of unfinished business for Dartford but I don’t really look at it like that.

“The opportunity to come back came along, I love playing here and I want to do well for the club and score goals. The aim, as always at Dartford, is to get promoted.

“It’s a bit of everything at Dartford - a lovely pitch, great stadium, good fans, nice facilities and not too far from home – I just like being here.”

Sheringham regularly hits 20 goals a season but he’s not one to set individual targets.

He’s still finding his way this term after a disrupted pre-season which ended with injury against Chatham.

“It’s been frustrating for me as I missed the first month after a bad tackle in my last pre-season game,” said Sheringham.

“That was annoying as I felt good in pre-season and I’ve had to take a while to step back up, I’ve only played one 90 minutes and a couple of substitute appearances now. Hopefully I get a few more minutes in the tank on Tuesday and Saturday.

“Let’s call it two goals in one start! Hopefully there’s a few more to come. I want to get to 20, when you do that then you know you’ve had a fantastic season. I don’t usually put numbers on it, I just see how it goes because of gametime and injuries.”