Jack Sammoutis is flourishing for Hythe Town after responding to his manager's instructions to work harder.

The midfielder has scored four goals in his last three games and eight in total for Sam Denly's side.

Sammoutis and Zak Ansah already have 27 goals between them and the midfielder is showing exactly why Denly brought him to the club in the summer.

Denly said: "Jack's as good as I've seen and I've tried to sign him before.

"At times he lets himself down and I've said that to him. I don't think he works hard enough at times.

"We've had a few conversations and I've got the reaction from him that I wanted.

"We had a chat five or six weeks ago about what I wanted from him and he's reacted. He's working hard and doing all the hard stuff.

"He's great on the ball, no-one can question his ability but it's the horrible side of the game at times I want to see more from him.

"I've seen that and he's unstoppable at the moment. He's plays in the 10 but he's box to box at the moment.

"He's putting shifts in every week and he's the complete all-round midfielder which is great for us."

Sammoutis, 24, began his career at Millwall and has been capped by Cyprus at under-19 level.

He played for Greenwich Borough and Walton Casuals last season, helping Casuals win promotion via the play-offs.

Denly said: "He's been playing with niggles since he signed for me but in the last month he's got himself fit.

"He's had a run of games now and I'm playing him through the middle. He's fully fit and he's been absolutely outstanding.

"He's controlling games, making things happen, scoring, setting goals up and everything we do well seems to be going through him.

"I'm pleased for him and it's great for the team.

"Everyone's playing well. I want them to work hard as a minimum.

"Players like Zak Ansah and Jack Sammoutis are putting shifts in and if you combine that work-rate with the quality they've got, they're going to be fantastic players.

"They play together (for SE Dons) although we're trying to curtail that with the commitments on a Saturday.

"A lot of my players have known each other for a long time so they understand each other's game."