Manager Tony Burman admitted Fumnaya Shomotun’s Dartford debut came a lot earlier than he anticipated.

The 26-year-old forward, who spent five years at Barnet, impressed against the Darts in last week’s Kent Senior Cup tie for Sevenoaks and Burman promptly invited him into training.

Shomotun was then thrust into the starting line-up at Farnborough last weekend after Bromley recalled George Alexander from his loan spell to allow the striker to make a permanent move to Chelmsford.

“With George Alexander going, all of a sudden he went up the pecking order,” said Burman. “I had put the feelers about in the lower leagues for a wide player.

“We played Sevenoaks and he had a decent game for them against a good player in Sam Odaudu.

“My intention was, with the permission of Sevenoaks, to invite him into training on Thursday which they gave me. He did ever so well in training and I thought we’re going to sign this guy.

“Give credit to Sevenoaks, they were more than happy to see him go to a club at a higher level and I’d like to thank the manager and the chairman there for letting it go through so quickly as sometimes these things don’t happen that smoothly.

“They deserve a lot of credit for what they did with him. He wants to play and entertain, but do well at the same time.

“He got an opportunity earlier than I was expecting but he took his chance and now most of the clubs in our league will know about him and be thinking of a way to stop him.

“He’s had a first chance, he’s been with Barnet and had injury problems, so this is a second chance and I’m sure he’ll grab it with both hands.”

On the subject of Alexander’s departure, Burman was disappointed he never got earlier notification of the striker’s intentions.

The Darts didn’t have the chance, either, to compete for Alexander’s signature.

“I didn’t see it coming and I didn’t get an inclination from anybody,” added Burman. “An email came to us about six o’clock on Thursday evening, then I got a call from Bromley and then George rang me and told me his thoughts.

“I wish he’d have spoken to us when he was having his contract cancelled but his agent advised him that he needed to be with a club going for promotion which is not the best thing to say when you’ve had the lad for a couple of months.

“We know that George hadn’t scored in eight games but with what I was trying to do in terms of getting service to the forwards, I would have liked to have had a crack at helping him but it wasn’t to be and we have to move on.”

It means Burman’s squad are still a striker light and the hope is to bring in another fresh face for this weekend’s trip to Bath.

“I’ve got to look for another striker and we’ll try and bring someone in for Saturday,” said Burman, who is open to a loan deal despite Alexander’s early exit.

“You try to stay clear of the loans but when you’ve got injuries or a lack of players on the books in certain positions then maybe you have to do that.

“We’ll see what happens and hopefully I can do something by the end of the week.”