CLARETS boss Mark Hawkes is loving watching his strikers fight for the right to wear a Chelmsford shirt and has backed Michael Cheek to make it in the professional game if he wants it enough.
Cheek grabbed a great hat-trick as Chelmsford saw off Worthing 6-0 in the FA Cup, second round qualifying on Saturday.
"I think Michael has played about 30 games for the club and probably scored about 18 or 19 goals, which is a good return," said Hawkes.
"He's still relatively young, only 22 and still has a big future in the game in front of him if he believes in himself. We keep drumming it into him to work hard. I've seen strikers go from non-league to professional football and they haven't had much more ability than Michael."
Evans Kouassi netted his first goal for the club, but went off with a hamstring injury just before half-time. Hawkes was hopeful he will recover quickly.
He said: "I don't think he's pulled it, just hopefully a minor strain. So we'll see. Perhaps he'll just miss one game."
Luke Callander impressed when he came on for Kouassi and the Clarets boss believes that having competition up front has kicked his frontline up a notch or two.
"Luke came off the bench and did very well. He worked very hard, and I think created three of the goals from his build-up play. He did everything but score. He put in a better shift than he has done in recent games," he said.
"Michael and Evans played very well last week and that's put him on the back foot. He knows what's required. We've got three great strikers."
He added: "Competition breeds confidence. The ones with the possession of the shirts have to make sure they keep doing it as there's boys ready to take that opportunity.
"Early on we only had the two lads up front and it became a little stale for them with no pressure, knowing that if we were playing two up front they'd both play. Now we've got competition. It's healthy for the club."
It is back to league action with a trip to St Albans on Saturday and then a home derby against Concord Rangers on Monday.
"St Albans away is going to be difficult. They like to keep the ball on the deck and pass it. It's a nice pitch down there and it'll suit us as well," said Hawkes.
"Then Monday night you go to almost the opposite with Concord, who like to play direct and are a big, physical side."
The Clarets boss feels that Saturday's and Monday's fixtures could benefit his side.
He explained: "We train Monday nights anyway, so for us to play on a Monday night perhaps gives us a bit of an advantage because there's probably not many sides that play Saturday and Monday."
