The arrival of two high-profile strikers at Ebbsfleet this summer has only made Billy Bricknell more determined to fight for his place.

Bricknell was last season’s top scorer at Stonebridge Road with 18 goals but former Football League frontmen Charlie Sheringham and Matt Godden are now on the scene.

Rather than feeling threatened, though, Bricknell’s vowed to work even harder to make sure he’s got a red shirt, rather than substitute’s bib, on his back.

He said: "I’d rather have competition than none. Last year, there was only me, Ben (May) and Michael (Thalassitis) and at one time or another, one of us was always injured.

"Now we’ve got four good forwards and there are only two places up top. There’s more incentive to work hard in training when you’ve got three people breathing down your neck to play.

"The spirit we’ve got, the new boys have bought into it already. We’ve got a bigger squad, there’s competition for places and everyone’s been top-drawer in training."

Full interview in the Gravesend Messenger.