Charlie Sheringham was thrilled to be back in the Ebbsfleet team on Saturday.

He was handed only his second league start of the season and had a fine game as the National League South leaders hammered Hemel Hempstead 6-0 at Stonebridge Road.

Nobody expected Sheringham to play but he justified his surprise selection.

Sheringham said: "It was nice to be back starting and winning games. We had a great result and I loved being back out there.

"The way the season’s gone, I was a little bit surprised. I feel like I should have had a chance a long while ago - but that’s another matter completely.

"I knew during the week, by Thursday, and I was looking forward to it."

Sheringham partnered Danny Kedwell in attack and the pair hit it off straight away.

They pressurised Hemel's defenders at every opportunity and their work-rate was matched by the players behind them as Ebbsfleet kept their visitors on the back foot.

Sheringham said: "When we've played well this season, our intensity has been very high.

"That’s one of the perks of us training three days a week. Our fitness level should be - and are - a lot higher than everyone else so we need to use that with us really pressing the opposition, earning balls back in their half and starting attacks from high up.

"It’s definitely something we tried to do and I think it worked really well.

"You could say me and Keds are quite similar players in the sense we’re not the speediest but we hold the ball up and lay other people into the game.

"We seem to work well and we understand what each other need. We set the ball up nicely for each other so it worked quite well."

Sheringham is still waiting for his first league goal of the season although he did everything but score on Saturday.

One effort was cleared off the line, another flashed past the post and a third was well blocked.

He had a clear sight of goal in the second half but unselfishly picked out Matt Fish, who converted the chance to put Fleet 4-0 up.

Sheringham admitted: "I’m a bit gutted now, sitting here having not scored but it’s nice to have been part of two or three of the goals.

"I could have shot but Fishy was in a better position so I ended up squaring it to him."

More from Charlie Sheringham in Thursday's Gravesend Messenger.