Sam Merson would gladly sacrifice the goals if he could help St Albans City into the National League South play-offs at long last.

By his own high standards last year wasn't as good as it could have been, bagging just nine goals in comparison to the 24 and 12 he scored in his first two seasons at the club.

But he feels like he has finally found his feet at the level and the confidence is starting to come back.

He said: "I had a good year two seasons ago and I've played at this level for a few years now.

"I think I've found my standard. I can do well and perform at this level and hopefully the goals will come back again.

"And if I can get as much game time as I can then who knows?

"I love playing at the club and I want to play as much as I can for St Albans.

"Hopefully I can score the goals, that will be an added bonus, but as long as I can help the team win and move up the table, that will be the main thing."

Pre-season has certainly seen a Merson seemingly back in form, leading the scoring charts with goals against Haringey Borough, Ware and Watford.

And he also believes that with the acquisitions in the summer, he and the likes of Joe Iaciofano will get plenty of sights of goal during the campaign.

He said: "The lads have looked good. When you've got the likes of David Noble behind you, you've only got to make a run and the ball is there.

"There are a lot of ball players and I like the way we play football.

"It's not all long ball. We're getting the ball down and playing it."

The main aim of the club has been repeated by all the squad. They want the play-offs after two seasons of getting to the final day but just missing out.

The 24-year-old is no different.

"We keep knocking on the door," he said. "In the three years I've been here we've been knocking on the door and never done it.

"We always seem to get off to a start and then have a patch where we can't get a win.

"But if we can get that out of our game and turn those defeats into draws or even wins, you never know.

"I fancy our chances."