BRIGHTLINGSEA Regent boss Tom Rothery has sung the praises of “outstanding” goal king Billy Hunt.

The striker has notched four in the last three games, eight in the last seven and already has an eye-catching season tally of 16 goals.

That puts him joint-third in the Bostik League premier division scoring charts, three behind Staines Town’s Elliot Buchanan, Billericay Town’s Jake Robinson and Folkestone Invicta’s Adam Yusuff and seven behind Niko Muir, of Hendon.

Hunt’s latest goals - a brace, including a penalty - came in last week’s 3-0 success against Worthing and afterwards Rothery described him as an “absolutely essential” part of his plans at the Taydal Stadium.

“As soon as I came into the club (in October), it was obvious (former R’s striker) Tom Richardson was going to leave (for National League South side East Thurrock United),” said the Regent boss.

“He moved to a higher level which was great for him and I’m genuinely pleased for him.

“But from my point of view, it became absolutely essential that we kept Billy.

“He was pivotal, in terms of the shape I wanted to play, and I always knew what he could do.

“I’ve always watched him from afar and admired him and the great thing is that he’s really bought into what we’re trying to do.

“He’s been outstanding, ever since I came back to the club.

“He’s got such quality and I call his left foot a cannon – when he connects with the ball there’s no stopping him.

“He makes life so difficult for defenders and that gives us a platform to play off.

“On top of that, he’s a great lad and when they’re like that, you genuinely want them to do well for themselves.”

Regent head to Kingstonian tomorrow to take on a side three places and three points below them, at Leatherhead’s Fetcham Grove.

Midfielder Jack Newman could come back into the equation after injury and while this weekend’s game has come too soon for sidelined duo Jake Turner and Sam Ashford, both could return by early to mid-February.

“They’re coming back into a more competitive squad,” added Rothery.

“A couple of weeks ago I’d have been thinking they’ll have to come straight back into the team.

“Now they’ve got to earn their place.

“I want to keep pushing on and, as a team, I don’t want us to be looking over our shoulders.

“I want to keep looking up.

“The play-offs are a long way off but we should still be looking to finish as high as we can, rather than just crawling over the line.

“Let’s finish with some momentum and then hopefully we can build on that going into next season.

“It’ll give everyone extra belief.

“You have to be realistic in terms of your targets but if you’re not aiming to finish as high as possible, you’re in the wrong game.”