Met Police new boy Dave Knight wants to eclipse departed striker Jonte Smith by finishing the season as the club’s leading scorer, writes James Hepworth.
 

The 22-year-old former Eastbourne Borough striker bagged a Boxing Day double to fire the Blues to a 4-1 win over near neighbours Kingstonian in only his second start for his new club.
 

Smith left the Blues before Christmas having scored 24 goals in a three-month loan spell from League One Crawley Town, in which he helped boss Jimmy Cooper’s men    to the FA Cup first round proper.
 

And Knight, who joined the Blues as Smith’s replacement before the festive fixture schedule, is confident he can do better than simply fill the void.
 

“There is no arguing that Jonte was a massive player at the club, and he helped the club to a healthy position in the league,” he said.
 

“I now have the task of filling his shoes of not only being a crucial goalscorer, but more importantly, to score the goals needed to win the rest of our games.
 

“I believe we have the talent and optimism to develop our game and to push right up the table.
 

“This team is more than capable of playing in a higher division.”
 

Knight, who also names Thurrock among his former clubs, quit Eastbourne Borough after only four months at Priory Lane due to a lack of game time.
 

The move meant the Essex-based player had to quit his job as a part-time football coach, which is something he hopes to rekindle once he has settled in at the Blues.
 

“I wasn’t really playing enough at Eastbourne, and came to the conclusion that I needed regular playing time to develop my career,” he added.
 

“Met Police have enabled me to not only develop my game, but have also given me the confidence to give success to the club.
 

“I am currently unemployed, but I believe my role at the club will now help me to get all my coaching badges.”
 

Met Police host Harrow Borough after a prolonged break from League action due to Hastings’ FA Cup clash with Middleseborough at the weekend.
 

The Imber Court outfit, who collected four points from two games over Christmas thanks to the surprise  1-1 draw at bottom-club Carshalton Athletic on New Year’s Day, are 11th in the table.
 

But they are only six points adrift of the play-off places after a four-game unbeaten run and they also have the luxury of having games in hand on their rivals.
 

Knight believes the time is right for the Blues to get on a run of form that can take them into the top five.
 

“I believe this tie is extremely important as we need to beat the teams around us in order to push up the table,” he said.
 

“We have two games in hand as well as more than 20 fixtures to play. We’re confident we can get results.”