Jack Powell took his season’s goal tally to nine at Maidstone United and seems set to enjoy a scoring rate up there with some of Fleet’s most prolific midfield goal-getters, with Jordan Parkes having netted 12 in 2015/16 and Stacy Long 15 in the Trophy-winning season of 2007/08.

Taking Tuesday night’s brace of goals in his stride, Powell preferred to focus on his side getting back to winning ways and the midfielder thought it was a case of doing the good, the bad and the ugly at the Gallagher Stadium.

“At this level it’s more about gritting your teeth,” he told BBC Radio Kent’s Matt Cole. “There’s not always tonnes of football being played and we feel like we can do both. And when we lose a game and we look at it after and we think it’s because of that – not gritting our teeth and seeing games through as we haven’t done recently – it’s even more disappointing than when you don’t have your best technical performance. So it was nice to put both sides of the game together which I think we showed.”

And Powell was understandably delighted with the three points after an indifferent start to the new year.

“I’m really pleased,” he said. “It’s come off the back of two losses. With us, when we lose, we always bounce back quickly and we tend not to lose two in a row. I think since I’ve been here it’s only the third time we’ve done that so it’s always good to bounce back and against a team that’s in and around us so it puts a bit of daylight between us and them. We’re buzzing.”

To cap an exciting seven days (Powell became a father for the second time last week), two goals to win a Kent derby was certainly a way to round things off, but the Fleet goalscorer was remaining modest about the achievement.

“I remember the first game was a big game. It was only the second game of the season and that was a sort of introduction to this league and what sort of crowds come to games in this league,” he said. “I had a chance to shoot in the first game and laid one off for Keds and he scored but it was important we won on that night as it was that we won tonight. So it was nice to get a couple of goals. I got a few this year and a few last year and that’s definitely something I’ve got in my game so it was pleasing.”

It certainly pleased his manager, who commented on Powell’s performance after the game: “I thought both [Jack’s] finishes were terrific particularly for the first one, his touch wasn’t the best, under his feet and he managed with no back lift to it, to get it through the lad’s legs and into the corner. And he can do that. He’s learning, he’s improving, he’s building on what he did last year, he’s getting better every game and he was ill tonight as well. He’s been excellent so far and I expect him to keep improving and kicking on. He’s a very talented player.”

Listen to the interview below.

https://soundcloud.com/eufcofficial/jack-powell-after-maidstone