‘It was a move which benefited both parties’ – Hawks boss Doswell ahead of in-form attacker James Roberts’ return to Hampton & Richmond

The attacker was loaned to Hampton in early February after suffering a loss of confidence following a fine start to life at Westleigh Park after arriving from Oxford City.

Roberts scored on his Hawks debut against Welling in August 2020 and later turned in a superb FA Cup display at Torquay, capped by a fine injury-time equaliser.

He rediscovered his form at Hampton, scoring twice in five outings, before returning to Hawks - whereby he promptly netted twice in a 3-0 home win over the Beavers!

Roberts has made a great start to 2022/23, scoring in three of Hawks’ opening four National League South fixtures.

His latest goal was a header in last weekend’s 4-2 win over Dover that saw the unbeaten Hawks climb to second in the embryonic table with 10 points.

‘We’re now seeing the James Roberts that ended the (2020/21) season with Oxford City,’ said Doswell.

‘James has been playing very, very well - not just scoring, but assisting as well.

‘He went through a difficult period last season, off the pitch as well as on it.

‘People don’t always understand that footballers have other bits going on in their lives as well.

‘Robbo sets himself very high standards, and he was very disappointed with how he was playing.

‘The loan to Hampton - who have a fantastic manager in Gary McCann - benefited both parties, it was a win win. It allowed James to get his confidence back.’

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Roberts has been on the left side of Hawks’ front three so far, with Jason Prior or Danny Wright down the middle and Gianni Crichlow or Mo Faal starting on the right side.

‘We felt last season we had a good core of players, but we didn’t have a (number) nine. That’s been solved now with bringing in Danny Wright and Jason Prior.

‘We only thought we were going to get Danny, but then Jason became available late on and credit to the chairman (Derek Pope) for making that additional signing.

‘With Gianni and Mo coming in, four of our (currently available) five strikers are new - Robbo being the other one. We felt it needed freshening up all round.’

Wright will continue to lead the line at the Beavertree on Saturday with Prior serving the second of a three-game suspension.

Faal, who netted twice in the first half on his first league start against Dover, could keep his place on the right.

‘Mo could play in any of the front three positions,’ said Doswell, whose side are home on Bank Holiday Monday to Farnborough.

‘There’s no point worrying about Monday,’ the manager added. ‘We can’t be resting players thinking about that one.

‘We’ll pick what we feel is our best XI (for Hampton) and then take a roll call on the Sunday.’

Prior is Hawks’ only absentee - apart from injured pair Tommy Wright and Sam Magri - as they bid for the win which would result in the club’s best-ever start (in terms of points from the first five games) to a National League South season.