STEVE Butterworth believes latest recruit Sam Carter will allow Great Wakering Rovers’ attacking players to have more freedom on the pitch.

Carter has made the move to Burroughs Park from Isthmian North rivals Tilbury and made his debut in the 4-1 win against Dereham Town at the weekend.

And Butterworth believes Carter, along with central midfield partner George Cox, will allow Wakering to flourish going forward.

“Sam was good on his debut,” said Wakering player-manager Butterworth.

“He had not started a game for a month or two, so he felt a bit leggy towards the end.

“But I played with Sam in the Essex Senior League.

“Because of that, I know exactly what I will get with Sam and he worked his socks off at Dereham.

“I think Sam is a similar player to Coxy because they will both run through brick walls for you.

“They sit in front of the back four and that allows the wingers and attacking midfielders to have freedom.

“Jack Stevenson and Jake Gordon are scoring lots of goals, while Kojo Apenteng has done well since coming into the club.”

Carter has swapped Tilbury for a Wakering side currently in the Isthmian North play-off places.

Wakering, who have accumulated 31 points from 19 outings, are among the surprise packages in the division.

It is Butterworth’s first full campaign in management and, in Wakering’s second term back in the fourth tier of non-league football following their Essex Senior League title win in 2018, his side are challenging for promotion.

Butterworth’s was given the player-manager role on a permanent basis in April and his first clash against Dereham did not go to plan.

Wakering suffered a 6-1 defeat on the final day of last term and Butterworth went to Aldiss Park looking for revenge.

Goals from Martin Tuohy, Billy Johnson, Jake Gordon and Jack Stevenson allowed Wakering to come out on top this time around and record a 4-1 triumph.

Although Butterworth felt Wakering did not deserve such a comprehensive victory, he insists his side were deserving of sealing all three points.

“I think 4-1 flattered us, but we scored a couple of screamers,” added Butterworth.

“We were good for the first 20 minutes of the first half and maybe could have gone into half-time with more than a one-goal lead.

“They scored straight after the break and that was a bit frustrating.

“We were under the cosh for 10 or 15 minutes after that and it looked like there would be only one winner.

“But then one of our screamers went in to give us the lead and, for the last 20 minutes or so, we were good.

“It looked like we were going to score whenever we went forward.

“I was more than happy to come away with three points.”