NEW Totton & Eling bosses Stuart and Matt Hussey hope to keep hotshot Craig Feeney at Little Testwood Farm a while longer.

When their predecessor Kev Dawtry departed the club last week he was of the belief that the highly-rated 20-year-old would be looking to play Southern League football “sooner rather than later”.

But with Feeney currently just a goal behind AFC Portchester’s Simon Woods at the top of the Sydenhams Premier scoring charts, the Husseys want him to continue his footballing education with the Millers and go all out for the Wessex golden boot award Having been a promising young striker himself in his youth with Derby County and Bristol City, Stuart Hussey believes he can help develop Feeney’s game.

Feeney spent the back end of last season dual-signed for Gosport Borough as they closed in on promotion from the Southern One South & West.

But he opted against returning to Privett Park this term so he could concentrate on his apprenticeship as an electrician.

The Husseys are good friends with Gosport boss Alex Pike and Stuart, pictured below, said: “I spoke to Alex about Craig and he said that if we want to move Totton & Eling forward, Craig will be a vital part.

“If Craig does stay, he’s got the right managers to push him in the right direction.

“We will strengthen the side in the summer and we’re hoping he will want to be part of a team pushing for Wessex honours. I know the chairman Ed Holmes wants us to be in and around the top-four next year and we want Craig to be part of that.

“If Craig keeps scoring goals at this level, hopefully Matt and I will know when the time is right for him to move on and, who knows, he may even get a move back to Gosport with Alex.

“I’m looking forward to working with Craig.

“I came out of Bristol City at 20 and it would be nice to share some of my experiences of being a forward with him.

“I’ve told Craig that I’d like to work with him and help him improve as a player.

“When the time comes that Craig does move on, he needs to go to the right club and get himself a contract.

“He warrants a good move.” Having lost their first game in charge 4-0 at Alton Town last Friday, the Husseys were looking forward to taking a stronger team to Hamworthy United on Tuesday.

But the game was postponed due to a serious road accident which caused major hold-ups down to Dorset.

“Matt and I were sat in the car for two-and-a-half hours and some of the lads were stuck behind us at Cadnam,” said Hussey.

“Hamworthy suggested kicking off at nine o’clock, but that would have been ridiculous. Three of our lads had to get back for night shifts and we’d have done well to even get there by nine.

“It’s disappointing because we’d have had a few players back and we wanted to play.”

The 13th-placed Millers hope for a smoother passage tomorrow when they travel to Hayling.