By Matthew Panting

Welling assistant manager Lee Protheroe has praised striker Jake Hobbs after he netted his third goal in five games on Saturday.

Hobbs, pictured, rescued a point for Welling in the 1-1 Blue Square South draw at Staines and Protheroe admitted he is one to keep an eye on.

"Jake seems to be in the right place at the right time," said Protheroe. "He is a good, honest lad and he runs his socks off for the team.

"He never moans or argues and he is going to be a great prospect."

Protheroe, who took charge for the day with boss Andy Ford unavailable, felt his team deserved a share of the spoils - even if he had to substitute himself at half-time.

"I didn't really have much say in it," said Protheroe, pointing out that coach Keith Lovett made the call. "It was the right choice at the right time.

"We needed to open the game up and we put Jake and Finn out wide on a big pitch which is what we needed to do.

"We had let ourselves down in the first half and they should have been 4-0 up after half an hour.

"But we made a couple of changes at half-time and it was a point deserved with the way the game went."

Protheroe also confirmed that midfielder Jeff Minton and defender Cedric Ngakam have been released.